Introduction

The main task of the ECB will be issuing licenses and to monitor that licensees fulfill the requirements and conditions included in the licenses. The figure on your right shows the steps an application will go through before a license is finally issued or refused. A typical applicant for a license is a municipality, electricity distributing company, NamPower or industry with its own electrical installations.

The application must be sent to the Electricity Control Board, and at the same time it must be advertised in newspapers according to the regulations. Any objections from to the plans put forward in the application must be sent to ECB. The ECB will then consider application and objections, and either make a recommendation to the Minister directly, or arrange a public hearing about the application.

The result of the hearing will then be taken into account when ECB makes its recommendation to the Minister. It is the Minister who decides whether the application is to be approved or refused. In case of refusal, the Ministry informs the applicant in writing. The applicant can then again send a complaint to the Minister for a second evaluation. In case of approval, the Ministry instructs the ECB to issue the license, with the necessary conditions.

The application

Before an approach is accepted as an application it must fulfill certain requirements specified by the Regulations and the ECB. Therefore, a draft application must be sent to ECB for a preliminary scrutiny. If ECB finds the content of the draft sufficient to start the licensing procedures, the applicant must send a final application to ECB, and at the same time make an advertisement about its plan.

Describe content

The advertisement
The objective of the advertisement is to make affected parties aware of the plans in the application. The advertisement, which is on the applicants expense, must contain the following:

• short presentation of the applicant
• short description of the plan
• information about where the public can access the detailed application (local library, municipality, world wide web etc)
• address of ECB, where objections or comments to the application must be sent
• deadline for sending objections or comments to ECB

Further details about the content and procedure of advertisement will be made by the ECB.

Objections

Any party directly or indirectly affected by the plans in the application has the right to comment or complain to the ECB.

Public hearing

The ECB will consider the application and any objections, and may at its discretion, arrange for a public hearing of the application at a suitable time and place of which not less than 14 days' notice must be given to the applicant and every objector. At the hearing, the applicant and objector(s) may be represented by a legal practitioner and may lead evidence in support of the application or objection.

Evaluation by ECB

The ECB, in considering an application for the issue, renewal, amendment or transfer of a license, and the Board, in making its recommendation to the Minister on such application, must give due consideration to matters or activities which may adversely affect, or result in damage to, the environment or the rights of others, weighed against the advantages in general that may be derived from the grant of the application.  The ECB may request from the applicant, an environmental impact assessment study indicating the extent of any potential damage to or pollution of the environment and the steps proposed to be taken by the applicant to prevent or minimize such damage or pollution and to restore the environment generally and in terms of existing environmental legislation.

The applicant may also be requested to submit details of the technical and economic-financial resources available to the applicant to execute the work, to operate the system and to carry on the business to which the application or license relates, substantiated by documentary proof where applicable.

The ECB will take into consideration the extent to which the activities of the applicant will or may be detrimental to or adversely affect the rights and operation of other licensees or their customers in their area of operation.

It must take into consideration the ability of the applicant to provide an effective service to customers, and also whether the grant or refusal of the application in question is in the public interest.

To download the application forms

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