Homeowners will not see electricity prices drop

Homeowners in Northern Ireland will not see the benefits of the substantial drop in the price of gas reflected in their electricity bills, it was confirmed today.

Northern Ireland Electricity is due to make a formal announcement on its tariffs at the end of next week and they are expected to remain largely unchanged.

A spokesman said: “The number crunching is still going on but we expect to see tariffs flat.”

He added: “Gas prices are falling but at the same time we have been hit by a £40m (€60.6M) bill by AES for the upgrading of the Kilroot power station – one cancels out the other.”

The American owned Kilroot station at Carrickfergus, Co Antrim is Northern Ireland’s largest generator and has been given the green light to pass on to customers the £40m (€60.6M) cost of a clean-up operation to reduce emissions to meet new EU standards.

Passing on the cost was opposed by NIE and the regulator but AES won a High Court battle over the bill.

It will mean NIE prices moving up the league of UK prices, but even without a reduction NIE predicts its charges may still be below those of British Gas which today announced an 11% cut in its electricity prices and an even bigger 17% drop for gas consumers.

Northern Ireland gas consumers, however, look set to see their bills reduce in the spring.

Phoenix Natural Gas said signs remained very positive towards a reduction in the tariff price at the beginning of April.

Richard Rodgers, business development director, said: “We are confident that we will be able to deliver a price reduction to our customers sooner rather than later as this winter has seen a fall in the wholesale cost, which is now being reflected in forward costs for the next year.”

He said Phoenix and the regulator would begin a formal consultation on the tariff in the coming days and hoped to be in a position to make an announcement before the end of March.