Refund for all Island Energy gas customers next month

The payment will be made in the form of a credit to each customer's account in February.

Island Energy will refund gas customers in Jersey a month's standing charges after the loss of supply in October 2023.

Up to 4,500 homes and businesses were without gas for about a week, following a loss of power at La Collette.

Customers should receive £11.56 in February in what the company has called a "gesture of goodwill".

Group CEO Jo Cox thanked customers for bearing with the company while a review was done.

Island homes and business were without gas from 8 October 2023 after a software failure triggered the plant's shutdown.

Mrs Cox said the company has reviewed the "best way to make a payment to all our customers in light of the service outage we experienced".

"As a result of this supply outage, Island Energy will be refunding the standing charge for the month of October to customers as a gesture of goodwill," she said.

'Disappointing for customers'

As there is no requirement for energy companies in Jersey to have pre-agreed compensation schemes in place, Island Energy has been working with its insurers to find out if it was covered.

"Unfortunately, as it was a total loss of supply due to circumstances out of our control, the insurance company has confirmed that it will not be covered," said Mrs Cox.

"We recognise that this is disappointing for our customers and are therefore committed to refunding the entire month of October, rather than just the period of the outage."

The payment will be made in the form of a credit to each customer's account and will be applied during February 2024.

Island Energy has been reviewing the disruption period with commercial and business customers who have been assessed on a case-by-case basis.

It said that while all customers will receive the credit on their account, "most businesses have insurance for this type of disruption" and it has been "proven that this is typically the best route to recover lost revenue".