Energy code manager standard licence conditions: determination notice
Summary
The Secretary of State has formally determined the standard licence conditions for code manager licences under Sections 33(1) and 81(2) of the Utilities Act 2000, completing the legal step that brings code manager licences into existence for electricity (s.6(1)(g) Electricity Act 1989) and gas (s.7AC(1) Gas Act 1986). This is the determination instrument enacting the SLCs already finalised in the March 2026 joint government-Ofgem consultation response; it adds no new policy. Code managers will replace the existing self-governance model where industry parties run their own code panels.
Why it matters
The substantive decisions were taken in the March 2026 consultation response; this notice is the procedural execution that makes the licence conditions legally exist. Energy code reform shifts code governance from incumbent-dominated panels to licensed, Ofgem-accountable code managers, which on its face reduces the ability of large incumbents to slow modifications that threaten them, though whether a licensed monopoly manager is more responsive than a captured panel depends entirely on the incentive design in the conditions themselves.
Key facts
- •Determination made under Sections 33(1) and 81(2) of the Utilities Act 2000
- •Electricity code manager licences: licence type under s.6(1)(g) Electricity Act 1989
- •Gas code manager licences: licence type under s.7AC(1) Gas Act 1986
- •Originating consultation published 1 May 2025; closed June 2025
- •Joint government-Ofgem consultation response published 23 March 2026
- •SLCs finalised in the March 2026 response; this notice executes them
- •Signed by Michael Shanks MP, Minister of State for Energy
- •Part of the Energy Code Reform programme under the Energy Act 2023
Timeline
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
As part of the Energy Code Reform programme, the Secretary of State has determined the standard licence conditions ( SLCs ) for code managers, as is required under Sections 33(1) and 81(2) of the Utilities Act 2000. The SLCs were finalised following a joint consultation by government and Ofgem, titled ‘ Energy code reform: Code manager licence conditions and code modification appeals to the CMA ’. The consultation closed in June 2025. The final standard licence conditions were then published as part of the government and Ofgem consultation response in March 2026. Standard Conditions of Code Manager Licences The Secretary of State (together with the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority) published, on 1 May 2025 a consultation entitled ‘Energy Code Reform: Consultation on Code Manager Licence Conditions and Code Modification Appeals to the Competition and Markets Authority’ and on 23 March 2026 a joint response to that consultation entitled ‘Energy Code Reform: Government and Ofgem Response to the Consultation on Code Manager Licence Conditions and Code Modification Appeals to the CMA’. In accordance with the decisions (so far as relating to standard conditions of code manager licences) in that response to consultation the Secretary of State makes the following determinations. Pursuant to section 33(1) of the Utilities Act 2000, the Secretary of State determines that the conditions attached to this notice are standard conditions for the purposes of licences of the type specified in section 6(1)(g) of the Electricity Act 1989. Pursuant to section 81(2) of the Utilities Act 2000, the Secretary of State determines that the conditions attached to this notice are standard conditions for the purposes of licences of the type specified in section 7AC(1) of the Gas Act 1986. Michael Shanks MP Minister of State for Energy