Regulator warns Sark electricity price could treble

Shane Lynch said he hoped to limit the new price to either 56 or 65 p/kwh

Sark's electricity regulator has warned the price of electricity could rise to £1.50 per kilowatt hour (p/kwh).

It would make the price of power in the island of 500 people, one of the most expensive in the developed world.

Currently the limit on price set by Sark's Electricity Prices Control Commissioner, Shane Lynch, is 49p p/kwh.

He said the possible trebling of price was in reaction to a request from the island's only electricity company, Sark Electricity Limited (SEL).

Mr Lynch said he hoped to limit the new price to either 56 or 65 p/kwh.

Earlier this year Sark's government, Chief Pleas, voted to spend £175,000 on plans for a new electricity grid.

The move followed reports from experts which deemed the old grid "unsafe".

Sark Electricity's managing director Alan Witney-Price warned at the time that creating a second grid to run alongside his company's was "nonsense".

Request to invest

Sark's electricity regulator has launched a consultation on the future of pricing for power locally in reaction to the request from Mr Witney-Price to allow a price increase to facilitate investment in the island's infrastructure.

Mr Lynch said if he does not change the current price control order following a request from SEL local laws allow the company to appeal it in Sark's court.

In a summary of the consultation, Mr Lynch stated the request to change the price control order was to allow SEL to increase its prices to help pay for new kit and the company's previous legal expenses.

The consultation on Mr Lynch's proposals ends on 24 September and any variation to the price control order would come into force next month.