Common Tariff Obligation: Uniform prices for electricity consumers in northern Scotland
The Common Tariff Obligation was introduced to ensure that suppliers across the north of Scotland could not charge domestic customers in that area different prices simply on the basis of their location. This will protect domestic customers in remote areas of northern Scotland from being charged very high prices for their electricity.
The Common Tariff Obligation was originally set out in the Electricity Act 1989 and updated by the Utilities Act 2000, but no Order was made under the legislation at the time. Department for Trade & Industry (DTI, now BERR) launched a 3 month public consultation on the laying of the Order in August 2004 and the Government concluded that the Common Tariff Obligation should have a legal footing since there is a possibility that electricity providers could seek to price discriminate in the future. Information on the final Order and the Government response to the consultation are available in the document below:
- URN 05/952
(277KB)The Common Tariff Obligation came into force on 1 April 2005 at the same time as BETTA. The Common Tariff Obligation will be reviewed in 2008 at the same time as the Hydro-benefit Replacement Scheme.