Power price rises 'would force business closures'

Aidan Le Poidevin has been running Time and Tide on Sark's Avenue for the last two years

Business owners in Sark have warned a potential trebling of the cost of power could force them to close.

The island's electricity regulator has been asked by Sark Electricity Limited to allow it to increase prices to £1.50 per unit to allow more investment in the grid.

Restaurateur Aidan Le Poidevin warned if power prices were to go up to £1.50 per kilowatt hour (p/kwh) he would "not be able to open".

Price Control Commissioner Shane Lynch said "that's not going to happen", and stressed approving such a price "would not be a wise course of action".

Earlier this year, Sark's government agreed to spend £175,000 on designing a new power grid for the island.

Currently the limit on price set by Mr Lynch is 49p p/kwh.

Mr Le Poidevin, manager of Time and Tide restaurant on Sark's Avenue, said he wanted keep the business open year-round, rather than just in the busy summer season.

But he said that, if power prices were to rise from their current 49p limit, then he would not be able to do that.

However, he has launched a consultation about increasing the price of power to a maximum of either 56p or 65p per unit.

Former vice-president of the local Chamber of Commerce Matthias Plunser said his family was prepared for high power prices, but their first bills were "massive"

Businessman Matthias Plunser said the high price of power had forced him change the way he lived since he moved to the island four years ago.

When he arrived with his young family, he used reusable nappies for his son but, because of the cost of washing in Sark, he said he had to give up and move to disposable nappies.

He said: "We knew about the price of power when we moved, but, at the beginning, we had no idea how to handle it.

"The first bills were massive, even though we were in a tiny apartment. We switched off everything; we didn't have a television.

"But washing machines and kettles, they were really expensive."