Electricity bills to be cut by £12 a year, under new proposal 30/7/14
Electricity bills are to be cut by £12 with spending curbs to be imposed on energy
companies.
Industry regulator Ofgem said that households should see reductions for the next
eight years from April 2015 until 2023.
The savings are proposed after energy firms including SSE, which operates the grid
in the North of Scotland, were told they were failing to deliver good enough value
for consumers.
Plans to spend £19 billion to upgrade and maintain Britain’s local electricity network
should be trimmed by £2.1 billion, say Ofgem.
Some £700 million of these are savings while Ofgem plans to disallowed a further
£1.4 billion following analysis of costs.
Less spending on infrastructure means billpayers would not have to contribute as
much.
In addition to requiring efficient investment, Ofgem challenged the companies to
improve customer service and take a more active role in helping vulnerable customers.
Ofgem said it has also sharpened targets to help new customers, such as businesses,
new renewable generation (including community plans) and housing developments, get
connected to the network
SSE - the main energy provider in the Western Isles - said it is “disappointed” with
a number of elements within the draft determination including Ofgem’s “assumptions
about the scope of further cost reductions across the industry.”
It said it is already “one of the leading cost efficient operators” and will reviewing
Ofgem’s assumptions on how it “could operate and develop our networks” to provide
a good service under the forced reduced investment.