The Energy Act 2023 (c. 52) is an act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...
.
The act's aim is for the security and independence of energy supply in the United Kingdom using different methods, including nuclear, oil, gas, hydro and wind. In turn, it is hoped that people's energy bills will decrease after this.
The act received
royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
on 26 October 2023.
Contents
The Energy Act 2023 contains 14 main parts.
*Part 1 Licensing of carbon dioxide transport and storage
*Part 2 Carbon dioxide capture, storage etc and hydrogen production, transport and storage
*Part 3 Licensing of hydrogen pipeline projects
*Part 4 New technology
*Part 5 Independent System Operator and Planner
*Part 6 Governance of gas and electricity industry codes
*Part 7 Market reform and consumer protection
*Part 8 Heat networks
*Part 9 Energy smart appliances and load control
*Part 10 Energy performance of premises
*Part 11 Energy Savings Opportunity Schemes
*Part 12 Core fuel sector resilience
*Part 13 Offshore wind electricity generation, oil and gas
*Part 14 Civil nuclear sector
Parliamentary passage
The bill for the act was introduced in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
on 6 July 2022 by
Lord Callanan, piloted through the House of Commons by
Grant Shapps
Sir Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps previously served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet posts, including Chairman of ...
, and had its
third reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...
in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
on 5 September 2023. The act was considerably amended through both Houses of Parliament, and is one of the largest pieces of energy legislation to ever be created.
Implementation
The name of the Independent System Operator and Planner was later announced to be the
National Energy System Operator
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is the nationalised energy system operator for the United Kingdom. Previously owned by National Grid plc, when it was known as National Grid ESO, it is a publicly owned organisation which operates both ...
(Neso), to be operational on the 1 October 2024.
References
{{reflist
External links
Explanatory notes
2023 in British law
Environmental law in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2023