Price of gas to rise again in Jersey from next week

Island Energy (formerly Jersey Gas) say that the increase will result in higher bills of £4 to £5 per customer.

Islands Energy Group CEO, Jo Cox, said: “This is a difficult decision to take, particularly at the start of winter, but a price rise is necessary given the continued impact of the energy crisis on the price and security of energy worldwide.

In September 2021 the price of gas increased permanently by 4.5%. In addition, a market-linked increase of 15.2% was also put in place and this is still in effect. This price has been reviewed regularly by Island Energy and is no longer sufficient to cover the increased commodity costs seen in recent months.

“A 5% market-linked increase is reflective of continuing unprecedented high cost of natural gas and the knock-on effect that has on the supply of LPG, which is the type of gas supplied in Jersey. We have seen the market improving in recent weeks and hopefully this will feed through to the wider market.

“Our last increase, in September 2021, included a temporary measure which reflected high market prices and this is still in place”.

“This is because the price of wholesale gas has remained high throughout the last 12 months as energy markets react to a variety of complex influences including a significant number of geo-political events across the world. A wide range of factors affect supply chains in a variety of ways, keeping the cost of many things that are crucial to the supply of gas very high.

“While 5% is a relatively small increase in the current global context, we understand that news of any increases for customers may cause concern. Island Energy runs a Priority Customer Care scheme that can offer payment plans, ‘Comfort checks’ for customers at home, and further support if needed. Customers can sign up for this scheme through our website or they can call us on 755500”.