Guernsey Electricity is embarking on a consultation with Islanders to gather feedback on how tariffs can be changed to enable investment in the Island’s electricity infrastructure.
The way electricity is generated and used is evolving quickly with consumers switching to electric heating sources and electric vehicles at a faster rate than predicted and the existing tariff structure has been in place since 1993. To help shape the development of the tariffs, the company is running a consultation that will engage with customers and other local stakeholders to understand their views.
Karl Brouard (pictured), Chief Financial Officer, confirmed that the consultation process forms an important part of explaining the challenges of delivering the energy transition and determining how it will be funded. “We are committed to providing a secure, sustainable and reliable electricity service that is affordable and fair to all Islanders and want to be transparent around the tariff changes that are required.
“It is clear that we all need to work together to make decarbonisation in Guernsey sustainable for our community. Our customers’ opinions are very important and their views will help us have a greater understanding of future energy pricing requirements.”
As part of the consultation process, Guernsey Electricity has commissioned an independent market research agency, ‘Explain’ and initiatives will include a questionnaire and telephone interviews. The consultation will consider the level of increased investment that is required to meet the States’ Energy Policy direction for net zero by 2050. To deliver this investment we need to look at how this can be funded using tariff increases and additional debt.
Results will be used as part of the company’s application for tariff changes which will be submitted to The States Trading Supervisory Board in quarter two of 2022.
Karl added: “Recent world events and the ongoing volatility in the energy markets have also highlighted the importance of a resilient energy system. We must increase our investment in electrical infrastructure and create a network that can cope with the increased electricity demand we are seeing, support an increase in local renewables and provide the infrastructure to achieve net zero carbon targets.
“Fortunately, the cost of electricity to the island is not experiencing a significant increase, such as that in the UK and Europe but the infrastructure we need to meet today’s demand does require investment and tariffs must change to pay for this.”
Guernsey Electricity’s long-term strategy is for an energy system that supports local renewables and reduces the reliance on fossil fuels which would see the power station deployed for emergency generation only.
The consultation is available online here and a paper version will be available at the Guernsey Electricity reception. If Islanders would like further information, they are asked to contact Jennifer Lagan, Project Manager, at the market research agency Explain, on 0191 261 5261 or jennifer@explainresearch.co.uk.
