Guernsey Electricity price increase lower than planned

Electricity prices on Guernsey are to rise by 2.5%, rather than the expected 5.5%, it has been announced.

It reverses a decision made by Guernsey Electricity after the utility regulator removed price controls.

Alan Bates, the company's managing director, said the change was due to several factors.

He said these included the overdraft provided by the States Treasury and time scale changes in an undersea cable link project.

Mr Bates said there was also a need for further dialogue with the Office of Utility Regulation, the industry regulators.

The additional 3% rise had been planned to help the company recover the costs incurred during the period of volatility in the energy markets, which led to higher prices for importation of energy and on-island generation through oil price increases.

The rise will come into effect from 1 April.