Gas Act 1986

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Gas Act 1986
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Long title An Act to provide for the appointment and functions of a Director General of Gas Supply and the establishment and functions of a Gas Consumers' Council; to abolish the privilege conferred on the British Gas Corporation by section 29 of the Gas Act 1972; to make new provision concerning the supply of gas through pipes and certain related matters; to provide for the vesting of the property, rights and liabilities of the British Gas Corporation in a company nominated by the Secretary of State and the subsequent dissolution of that Corporation; to make provisions with respect to, and to information furnished in connection with, agreements relating to the initial supply of gas won under the authority of a petroleum production license; and for connected purposes.
Citation 1986 c. 44
Territorial extent Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent 25 July 1986
Other legislation
Amends
Repeals/revokes
Status: Partially repealed
Text of the Gas Act 1986 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Gas Act 1986 (c. 44) created the framework for privatisation of the gas supply industry in Great Britain. [1] This legislation would be replacing the British Gas Corporation (government or state ownership) with British Gas plc (private ownership). The Act also established a licensing regime, a Gas Consumers’ Council, and a regulator for the industry called the Office of Gas Supply (OFGAS).

Contents

Background

The liberalisation and privatisation of the energy markets in the United Kingdom began under the tenure of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government in the 1980s. [2] This has been called the Thatcher-Lawson agenda, due to the key role of Nigel Lawson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983–89) in the Thatcher ministry. [3] There was a perceived need to reduce the inefficient state control of the energy sector and to introduce a market-oriented system through privatisation. Access to the energy market would be given to more organisations, improving competition and reducing prices for the consumer. [4]

Gas Act 1986

The Gas Act 1986 received royal assent on 25 July 1986. The long title of the Act is:

An Act to provide for the appointment and functions of a Director General of Gas Supply and the establishment and functions of a Gas Consumers' Council; to abolish the privilege conferred on the British Gas Corporation by section 29 of the Gas Act 1972; to make new provision with respect to the supply of gas through pipes and certain related matters; to provide for the vesting of the property, rights and liabilities of the British Gas Corporation in a company nominated by the Secretary of State and the subsequent dissolution of that Corporation; to make provision with respect to, and to information furnished in connection with, agreements relating to the initial supply of gas won under the authority of a petroleum production licence; and for connected purposes. [5]

Provisions

The provisions of the Act comprise 68 sections in three parts, plus eight schedules.

of Schedules 1 to 9

Effects of the Act

The Gas Act of 1986 repealed the whole of the Gas Act 1960, and parts of the Gas Act 1965, as well as parts of the Gas Act 1972.

Section 1 of the 1986 Act established the Director-General of Gas Supply and the Office of Gas Regulation (OFGAS). This was an economic regulator, independent of Government but accountable to Parliament. This arrangement separated the regulatory decisions from political control and aimed to give greater long-term regulatory certainty and to encourage market entry and investment. [6] The regulator has since become the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM).

The Gas Act 1986 was one of the first Thatcher government privatization efforts. The first had been British Telecom in 1984. When British Gas plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange on 8 December 1986, it traded at 135 pence per share, valuing British Gas plc at £9 billion. [4]

The privatization of gas supply and the opening up of the market was one of the factors in the UK's 'Dash for Gas' – the shift from coal-fired to gas-fired power plants in the electricity industry – in the early 1990s. [7] Other factors included regulatory changes by the EU that facilitated the use of gas, technological advances that increased the efficiency of combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT), increased North Sea gas production, and the environmental benefits of reduced carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions. [8]

In 1994, British Gas plc was reorganized into British Gas and Transco. British Gas owned the offshore supplies, storage, and supply contracts. The onshore pipeline system, the National Transmission System (NTS), was independently operated by Transco. [4]

In preparation for the further opening up of the gas markets to competition in 1996, British Gas plc went through a process of restructuring to separate the company into five new divisions, which entailed a substantial reduction of staff. [4]

The Gas Act of 1986 does not apply to Northern Ireland.

Later amending Acts

Gas Act 1995
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Long title An Act to amend Parts I and III of the Gas Act 1986; to make provision for requiring the owners of certain gas processing facilities to make them available to other persons; and for connected purposes.
Citation 1995 c. 45
Dates
Royal assent 8 November 1995
Other legislation
AmendsGas Act 1986
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Gas Act 1995 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Gas Act 1995 (c. 45) amended Parts I and III of the Gas Act 1986, establishing provisions for requiring the owners of certain gas processing facilities to make them available to other organizations. [9]

Section 1 of the Utilities Act 2000 established the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM), which merged and abolished the Office of Gas Supply (OFGAS) and Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER).

See also

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References

  1. Vickers, John (1988). Privatization: An Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-262-72011-3.
  2. Vinen, Richard (2010). Thatcher's Britain: The Politics and Social Upheaval of the Thatcher Era. Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN   9781847392091.
  3. Hughes, Gordon; Lewis, Gail, eds. (1998). Unsettling welfare: the reconstruction of social policy. London: Routledge. ISBN   0-415-18133-X. OCLC   38073349.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Webber, Calliope. "The evolution of the gas industry in the UK" (PDF). iapg.org.ar. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. "Gas Act 1986", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 25 July 1986, 1986 c. 44
  6. Parker, David, ed. (1998). Privatisation in the European Union: Theory and Policy Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN   9780415154697.
  7. Winskel, Mark (2002). "When Systems Are Overthrown: The 'Dash for Gas' in the British Electricity Supply Industry". Social Studies of Science. 32 (4): 563–98.
  8. Bocse, Alexandra-Maria; Gegenbauer, Carola (2017). "UK's Dash for Gas: Implications for the role of natural gas in European power generation" (PDF). EUCERS. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  9. "Gas Act 1995", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1995 c. 45 Introduction