That has been taken further in Guernsey Electricity’s annual report and accounts, which sets a date by which that work should get underway.
“Despite the impact of the recent cable issues, our underlying financial performance continues to fall significantly below the level required to fund necessary investments in the Island’s electricity infrastructure and this remains an important issue as we plan for the future,” said Mr Bates.
Pictured: Guernsey Electricity recently completed the installation of the new undersea electricity cable (GJ1), linking the Island to France via Jersey.
“In addition to recovering today’s costs, we anticipate an increase in renewable self-generation and storage as technology develops and we need to facilitate this in a fair way for all islanders. While customers use less electricity from the grid, a large proportion of our costs to maintain the grid as back-up supply will remain fixed and unaffected by the reduced amount of electricity used.
“Our current tariff structures, which have been in place since 1993, are not fit for this future and therefore, need to be comprehensively restructured to allow for infrastructure investments and to meet the changing energy needs and behaviours of our customers. This will be a priority for us in 2020.”
Pictured top: Guernsey Electricity’s Power station and, inset, CEO Alan Bates.