ABSTRACT
The Electricity Act 1989 remains in principal text. However, the Act has been substantially amended since it was first passed. This chapter presents an overview of the Act as it currently exists but we also need to be aware of how the Act fits into the general context of energy legislation since 1989. The chapter concerns a small and carefully defined part of the statutory picture but the landscape in the background must be understood if mistakes are to be avoided. The purpose of the Act was to reorganise the electricity industry completely. The industry had been nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947. By the Act the industry was made ready for privatisation. Electricity Act 1989, Schedule 18 which lists 90 earlier statutes or statutory provisions. The Utilities Act 2000 did not just establish the Authority. It created the current licensing regime over which the Authority presides.
