National Power versus National Grid Company – what are the implications?

In a landmark judgment of the Court of Appeal, the legal structure of the electricity industry established in England & Wales in 1990 has come under scrutiny. The case highlights the dichotomy in increasingly deregulated power markets worldwide between private law and the general law of contract in governing commercial arrangements, and the regulatory regime under the auspices of the regulator. Around the world it has been necessary for there to be dual regimes, and the industry has tended in practice to turn to the regulator for guidance. The National Power decision will, coupled with the process of liberalisation, probably go some way to forestalling this practice and focus greater attention on the terms and conditions of contracts. Ian Garrard Curtis Davis Garrard