No change to gas tariffs after mid-year review

The regulator CURA carries out reviews twice a year

Gas tariffs will remain the same for Manx residents after a mid-year review, a regulator has said.

The Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority (CURA) looked at how wholesale prices and consumer usage affected profits allowed to be made by Isle of Man Energy.

The regulator said although global costs had fallen, demand had also declined therefore they "largely cancel each other out".

It means the monopoly gas supplier's bills will stay at 13.98p per unit.

A review in February, triggered after forward purchase prices for natural gas had fallen by more than 10%, saw tariffs fall by 16% to 16.67p per unit from 1 March.

Isle of Man Energy is bound by energy regulations to keep its overall returns within the parameters set by CURA to stop it making excessive profits.

The authority's mid-year review considered forward purchase commitments, and demand prediction, and then actual demand and prices paid for gas that was not covered by the forward agreements.

The review found that commodity costs per unit for the full year were lower than projected in the last review, which meant that element of the current tariffs was too high.

However, with demand significantly lower than forecast in February, the overall cost of operating the network was not covered and therefore this cost element of tariffs is too low, the body said.

Publishing the outcome of its investigation, CURA said: "The overall impact of these two variances is that they largely cancel each other out."

The next scheduled tariff review will be in November and any changes would be introduced to customers in January 2024.