Northern Ireland's utility regulator unveils new compliance regime

The Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland has unveiled its new compliance monitoring regime which includes an emphasis on collaboration with the watchdog from energy and water companies in the province and requires a yearly declaration of a compliance clean sheet.

In a guidance document published last week, the regulator said: “The best consumer outcomes are achieved when we work together to address market issues and seek to remedy any licence compliance issues through early intervention and collaboration with licensees. We encourage all market participants to let us know at the earliest opportunity when a licence compliance issue arises.”

It added: “It is the responsibility of all licensees to ensure compliance with their licence(s) at all times. This responsibility extends to notifying us promptly at the earliest available opportunity of any issues that affect their compliance with their licence obligations throughout the year - whether through circumstance, accident, or design.”

It goes on the assert: “Failure to provide such information will be considered itself a compliance issue and will be subject to further investigation in line with this compliance framework and/or our published enforcement procedure.” 

It has outlined the new regulatory framework as having two “pillars”, one being routine monitoring of licence compliance, and the other an annual assurance process whereby licence holders must submit an “annual statement of licence compliance” covering the preceding calendar year.

On the annual reporting requirement, the regulator said: “Compliance must be a central focus of the work of licensees and that focus must run through all levels of the organisation. This compliance starts from the point of licence award and all licensees should have the systems and processes in place to ensure compliance. Our annual assurance process simply seeks confirmation of compliance at the highest level within the licensed companies.”

The submission of compliance information is, according to the regulator, a manifestation of the “Provision of Information to the Authority” condition in each licence.