It mainly modified the
Gas Act 1986, the
Gas Act 1995 and
Electricity Act 1989. One of the greatest changes was that integrated electricity companies were required to have separate licences for each of their businesses such as supply or distribution. The bill was originally published as a draft bill to deal with provisions to deal with
water and
telecommunications as well, but following industry concerns over duplicate regulation they were dropped. The act established
Ofgem. Section 105 of the act is intended to protect
national security; it prohibits the disclosure of certain types of information relevant to the energy sector, with penalties of fines and up to two years' imprisonment for breaches. The section has been used by
Ofgem to threaten
whistleblowers informing their managers and the
National Audit Office of misspends of millions of pounds. The
Employment Appeal Tribunal found that the law contravened the
European Convention on Human Rights. == Reception ==