Commentary on provisions of Act Section 58: Fuel poverty: support schemes
Under the Energy Act 2010 ("the 2010 Act") the Secretary of State has powers to make support schemes for the purposes of reducing fuel poverty. This Act amends the 2010 Act to enable the Scottish Ministers to exercise many of those powers in relation to support schemes made in relation to Scotland for the purposes of reducing fuel poverty through obligations on gas and electricity suppliers.
	This section amends the 2010 Act by inserting a new section 14A to enable the Scottish Ministers to exercise a range of powers for the purpose of support schemes in relation to Scotland. It also makes consequential changes to section 9 (schemes for reducing fuel poverty) and section 31 (Orders and regulations) of the 2010 Act.
	All of the powers under section 9 of the 2010 Act in relation to obligations on suppliers are transferred to the Scottish Ministers with the exception of: powers to determine the licensed gas or electricity suppliers to whom the scheme applies; powers to determine the aggregate amount of benefits to be provided in any specified period and the total amount of benefits to be provided by any one scheme supplier; and powers relating to the reconciliation of supplier costs. These relate to the scale and apportionment of the obligations, and the obligated parties.
	Before exercising the powers that are transferred to them by virtue of this section, the Scottish Ministers must have consulted with, and obtained the agreement of, the Secretary of State.
	The Secretary of State may exercise the powers that are transferred to the Scottish Ministers by virtue of this section, if the Scottish Ministers agree. The Secretary of State can intervene and exercise the powers without the agreement of the Scottish Ministers in the circumstances set out in subsections (7), (9) or (11) of the new s.14A.
	The Secretary of State may exercise these intervention powers under one of three conditions:
If, after consulting the Scottish Ministers, the Secretary of State considers it necessary to ensure a scheme is made in Scotland with the same start and end times as a scheme made or to be made in relation to England and Wales,
Where a scheme made in relation to Scotland, alone or in conjunction with a scheme made or to be made by the Secretary of State in relation to England and Wales, is likely to cause detriment to the United Kingdom (including consideration of the costs imposed on suppliers by virtue of schemes) or adversely affect the ability of the United Kingdom to comply with any international agreement or arrangement in relation to climate change or energy efficiency. The Secretary of State may only exercise this power after the Scottish Ministers have failed to comply with a written request to make specified modifications to prevent these effects within a specified time, or
The Secretary of State makes or intends to make changes to a support scheme which would result in a significant change in the costs incurred by suppliers, and the Scottish Ministers have not made requested modifications to a scheme made in relation to Scotland.