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• regulation – we advise on the licensing regime in the UK, including changes introduced by the Utilities Act 2000 and the Energy Act 2004, class and individual exemptions, and licence applications. By way of example, we have assisted on applications for gas transportation licences, drafting all the associated documentation including Network Codes. We have also advised on the:
  
  

  • development of regulatory compliance plans and have extensive experience in the procurement regime for utilities and the public sector
  • DTI licensing regime for on-shore and off-shore gas exploration, development and production and associated agreements
  • regulatory regime for onshore gas storage
  • rights and duties of the industry regulator Ofgem, including terms and conditions of generation, transmission, distribution and supply licences
  • proposed establishment of a registry for UK green certificates including the development of commercial proposals for terms of use of the proposed registry and governance and financing issues, and
  • concurrent powers of the regulator Ofgem under the Competition Act
    
    
• production and generation – we have been involved in a variety of capital projects for the construction of power plants, ranging from large directly connected power stations to small combined heat and power plant. We advise on the full range of legal issues associated with such projects including corporate sales and acquisitions, joint venture arrangements, the sale, purchase and leasing of plant, property and wayleaves, planning, environmental and section 36 consents, plant and civil works construction contracts, operation and maintenance agreements, fuel supply arrangements, tolling and energy sales agreements, funding and securitisation. We are familiar with the particular issues affecting embedded generating plant under the new electricity trading arrangements (NETA). Our lawyers have worked on a number of major gas infrastructure projects, both onshore and offshore, and have advised on the construction and development of gas production and transportation facilities, joint operating agreements, project acquisitions, field depletion contracts, long term and spot gas sales contracts, allocation arrangements and gas storage.
  
  
• nuclear – the Energy Act 2004 provides the strategy to clean-up Britain’s nuclear legacy and has established the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to take responsibility for ensuring the decommissioning and clean-up of civil public sector nuclear sites. We are in a position to advise on these types of projects as members of our team have:
  
  

  • advised on breaches of domestic, European and international nuclear legislation, including environmental law, law of nuclear installations and radioactive substances and health & safety
  • advised on authorisation and implementation documents and safety cases for the design, operation and decommissioning plant
  • advised on nuclear licensing requirements, and
  • drafted and negotiated plant and civil contracts for the Sizewell B nuclear power station
    
    
• renewable energy – we are advising clients in the renewable energy sector, and are especially active in capital projects relating to offshore wind; we advised a developer on one of the round 1 licensing schemes, and are now involved in two of the round 2 schemes, including one outside of territorial waters. See also Climate Change for more information
  
  
• electricity trading – the new electricity trading arrangements (NETA) were introduced in 2001. Consequently, trading moved from the pool to bilateral contracts and an opportunity for traders and exchanges opened up within the industry. Our extensive involvement in the introduction of these arrangements - we drafted and assisted in the negotiation of more than 600 agreements for the provision of a variety of balancing services to National Grid, and were involved in the drafting of the Programme Implementation Scheme - coupled with our knowledge of the Balancing and Settlement Code (the code deals with the balancing of notified and physically delivered volumes) and the related provisions of the Grid Code and Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, gives our energy team the edge to advise our clients on their trading arrangements. Our experience includes advising on Grid Trade Master Agreements (GTMAs), credit arrangements, OTC energy trading and options agreements, power purchase agreements and margin annexes

  Our trading expertise is not however, confined to England and Wales. Following liberalisation of the European trading markets, we have assisted in the negotiation of trading agreements via the interconnector with counterparties in other EC countries. We have recently been involved in advising on the implementation of British Electricity Trading & Transmission Arrangements (BETTA). With the UK working towards a low carbon economy, we are also finding that our clients are increasingly seeking our advice on the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and the trading of Kyoto Protocol project credits such as CERs and ERUs

• gas trading – as well as experience of standard gas trading contracts, we advised the market operator in connection with the launch of Europe’s first screen based gas commodity market in 1999, known as the On the Day Commodity Market (OCM). We drafted the market rules and advised on all relevant Financial Services Act, banking and settlement and governance issues and related balancing issues under Transco’s (now National Grid Gas) Network Code
  
  
• connection and use of system –on the gas side, our lawyers have been involved over many years in connection with the on-going development of National Grid Gas's Network Code. On the electricity side, we were involved in the drafting and implementation of the Connection and Use of System Code (CUSC) and regularly advise on CUSC modifications. We have advised on connection and use of system issues associated with the introduction of the British Electricity Trading & Transmission Arrangements (BETTA), which established a single wholesale electricity market in the UK by creating a common framework of trading rules. In addition we advise on distribution use of system and connection issues, and the particular issues affecting embedded generation
  
  
• retail supply – we advise on issues associated with supply to customers, including sales agreements, codes of practice, regulatory obligations and related issues such as data protection. Our Commercial Disputes Management group also provide debt recovery services for energy suppliers
  
  
• metering – we were heavily involved in the review of gas metering arrangements project (RGMA), playing a central role in the development of a suite of metering contracts adopted in July 2004. On the electricity side, we have advised on the supplier hub agency agreements for meter operation, data collection and data aggregation, and have assisted clients in securing accreditation under the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) processes

key expertise:

Andrew Whitehead
Partner
andrew.whitehead@martjohn.com

Lucy Lovelock
Senior Associate
lucy.lovelock@martjohn.com

Angela Healy
Senior Associate
angela.healy@martjohn.com