Pay-as-you-go supplies ensured over Christmas

Guernsey Electricity has taken steps to ensure people are not cut off over Christmas

Guernsey Electricity (GE) customers on pre-pay meters will remain connected if they run out of credit over the festive period, according to the supplier.

The company was extending its "friendly times" protected periods for pay-as-you-go meters to include Christmas and the new year holidays, bosses said.

During these periods, electricity supplies for customers would not be automatically disconnected if they did not top up their prepayment meter card through a local retailer, they added.

Guernsey Electricity said customers would be charged for the additional usage when they next added credit to their accounts.

The friendly times will run from 16:30 GMT on 24 December to 09:00 on 27 December, and then from 16:30 on 31 December to 09:00 on 2 January.

Pre-payment meters operate on a pay-as-you go basis and require periodic top-ups.

The times outlined would ensure meters remained active if credit ran out or if topping up was not possible, bosses said.

'Cooking Christmas dinner'

GE head of customer experience Steven Parks encouraged pay-as-you-go customers to ensure sufficient credit was applied to their meter in preparation of the festive period.

He said: "We do appreciate it is a busy time and sometimes people can forget to top up their credit before the shops close.

"With the flexibility of these friendly periods, our pay-as-you-go customers will be able to cook their Christmas dinner with the knowledge of not losing their supply, even if they have not been able to manage to top up beforehand."