Court Rules Ofgem's "Embedded Benefits" Decision Not Flawed

In a judgment dated 22 June 2018, the High Court (Lavender J) dismissed a challenge brought by a number of electricity generators (the Claimants) against a decision of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem) to approve proposed modifications to the Connection and Use of System Code (CUSC), under which charges for use of the GB transmission network are levied.

Ofgem's decision

The modification proposals were formally made in May 2016; Ofgem's decision was taken in June 2017; and it came into force on 1 April 2018. Its most noted effect was to remove (over a three year period) a key element of the revenues of small "embedded" generators (i.e. those connected to a distribution network rather than directly to the transmission network).