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Electricity
Supply contracts
A ‘supply contract’ is an agreement for the supply of electricity to domestic premises. A supplier must not supply electricity to such premises except under a supply contract. Electricity suppliers’ licences place conditions on what they are allowed to put in supply contracts (eg, terms regarding security deposits) – these are dealt with where appropriate throughout this book. This means that, when offering you a contract and supplying you with electricity, a supplier must conform to its licence conditions or face action from Ofgem (see Chapter 14).
Supply contracts are governed by Standard Licence Conditions (SLCs) 22 and 23. Contracts must be in a standard form, although there can be different forms for different areas, cases and circumstances. They must set out all the terms and conditions on which the supplier relies. If the contract is for goods and services as well as the supply of electricity, the charges for each must be separately identified. Copies of each kind of supply contract used by a supplier must be published in a manner to secure adequate publicity. Copies must be sent to Ofgem and be available on request.1Condition 22.8 SLC The contract should be provided ‘within a reasonable period after receiving the request’. You should also be able to get information from the supplier summarising the terms of its supply contracts, with details of anything likely to influence you when deciding whether to take up a contract.
 
1     Condition 22.8 SLC »