Jersey's government will have more powers to forces the gas provider to tell it about potential threats to the safety and security of the island's supply.
Changes to the law have been agreed that include making it a criminal offence for the firm to withhold information, punishable by up to seven years in prison.
It's one part of a package of measures to strengthen political oversight of the gas company.
The legislation was first proposed almost 12 months ago when, following the fatal explosion at Haut du Mont in December 2022, several gas leaks and an island-wide outage in October 2023, the government said it wanted to strengthen its oversight of Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy.
It gives the Home Affairs Minister the power to demand certain information from the gas company in situations where public safety or the security of the supply are at risk - so called 'reportable incidents'.
The Minister would also have to power to enter its offices and seize relevant documents.
Some politicians had expressed concerns about the planned punishments, which are harsher than in the UK, but scrutiny said it has reviewed them and was satisfied with the proposals.
Home Affairs Minister Deputy Mary Le Hegarat said they were justified:
"This is about someone actually providing either false information, withholding information, destroying information.
This is not about someone making an error, this is about someone actually being complicit in making or providing false information."
'Reportable incidents are listed as:
• Those that threaten, or potentially threaten, public safety or harm to people or property in Jersey;
• Those that threaten or potentially threaten the supply of gas in Jersey;
• Those that have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Gas Company to carry out its functions under an enactment, including a material adverse change in its financial position;
• A change of control of the Gas Company, whether direct or indirect. “Control,” in relation to the Gas Company means having the power to exercise decisive influence over its activities.
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