Electricity Council

According to the Electricity Act of 1946, starting from Article 50, the united Parliament (Althingi) shall elect by proportional representation a 5-member Electricity Council to assist the government in matters of electricity. The Council is elected for a term of 4 years, and the minister appoints its chairman.

The tasks of the Electricity Council, as per the 1946 Act, are to monitor the administration and operations in electricity matters, make recommendations in these areas, and advise the government on all electricity-related issues. It shall have the opportunity to monitor the research conducted by the Director of Electricity Affairs and the operation of the State Electricity Service. Matters concerning these areas shall be sent to the Council for review and comment.

The Electricity Fund

The Electricity Fund was established by the Electricity Act of April 2, 1946, which took effect on January 1, 1947. These laws were repealed by the Energy Act of 1967.

According to those laws, the Electricity Fund was intended to provide loans to the State Electricity Service (RARIK) for up to 30 years for the establishment of specific electrical facilities and for shorter periods to cover operating deficits that might occur from the facilities in the initial years after they are built.

It was also intended to provide individual farmers or groups of them with loans to build hydroelectric plants for household use outside the areas that regional electricity services were expected to reach in the near future. Additionally, the Electricity Fund was responsible for covering the costs of research, experiments, and education about electric utilities, the utilization of electric power, and energy use.

Geothermal Fund

The Geothermal Fund was established by Act No. 55/1961 on the Geothermal Fund and State Geothermal Drilling. These laws, like the Electricity Act of 1946, were repealed by the Energy Act of 1967.

According to these laws, the role of the Geothermal Fund was to finance the state's research on the nature and origin of geothermal energy, its extraction, and utilization. Provisions stated that if projects were undertaken to utilize geothermal energy based on these studies, the research costs should be considered part of the capital costs of the utilization facilities and be reimbursed to the Geothermal Fund with accrued interest. This could involve utilization in public heating systems, cultivation, electricity production, and industry.

The laws did not establish a separate Geothermal Council equivalent to the Electricity Council, but provisions required that the Electricity Council's opinion should always be sought on all payments from the fund and projects the fund is intended to finance. Thus, the Council is advisory regarding the Geothermal Fund but not its governing body.

Energy Council

In the Energy Act of 1967 (Article 69), it stated that the management of the Energy Fund is in the hands of the Energy Council, under the supervision of the minister responsible for electricity matters, and that the united Parliament (Althingi) shall elect by proportional representation five members to the Energy Council for terms of four years. The Act also stated that the Energy Fund shall be held in custody by the Central Bank of Iceland.

The Energy Act of 1967 was repealed by Regulation Act No. 87/2003. This regulation stipulated that the National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun) shall function as the Energy Council. The tasks of the Energy Council include providing advice on the implementation of projects.