The row over Sark’s electricity prices looks set to rumble on, with the island’s Electricity Price Control Commissioner bringing in a price control order from the end of this month.
That is the soonest that Shane Lynch can act to reverse the recent increases which put Sark’s power price back up to one of the highest in the world.
As EPC, Mr Lynch has carried out an investigation into the recent price hikes and has confirmed that “a unit price of 113.6 p/kwh charged by SEL for the supply of electricity is neither fair nor reasonable”.
He said he has completed his investigation and has taken “all material considerations into account”.
Mr Lynch will now make a price control order which will set a maximum price that SEL can charge its customers – which is every business and resident in Sark.
However, the situation won’t be resolved at the end of the month, because the EPC must consult with SEL before making its price control order.
SEL’s owners are also still challenging its compulsory purchase by Chief Pleas.
Sark Electricity Limited is Sark’s only electricity provider.
It has always been privately owned – most recently by Witney-Price since March 2020.
While electricity was already expensive in Sark, it had stabilised with the input of the EPC over recent years.
Prior to 1 September, electricity was costing around 50p per unit earlier this year.
In August, SEL’s owner announced it was imposing a legal levy of 40p per unit to cover fees incurred in challenging the compulsory purchase.
It then announced an additional 20p per unit levy to challenge the findings of the EPC which said it would investigate the legitimacy of the first levy.
That took Sark residents and businesses electricity bills to more than £1.13 per unit, with effect 1 September.
While the Seigneur branded the charges “ludicrous”, the EPC launched an immediate investigation with his preliminary inquiries finding that the charges were “neither fair nor reasonable”.
Mr Lynch said he could not do anything to immediately force the reversal of the charges as he must follow a statutory process which could see a price control order imposed from the beginning of October instead.
He has now done that but the details are not yet known.
When the price control order comes in at midnight on 30 September, it is expected it will see electricity prices in Sark revert to around 53p per unit which is the current fixed cost charged.
Mr Lynch has said he will be consulting SEL further in a forthcoming consultation on a price control order.
Alan Witney-Price, the owner of Witney-Price, has yet to comment publicly.