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From today, electricity prices are no longer overseen by an independent regulator - the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority - but are instead once again the responsibility of a States' committee.
And the President who leads that committee, Deputy Peter Roffey, has told Express that he will be surprised if Guernsey Electricity does not make an approach soon for permission to change prices and tariffs.
Deputy Roffey said that prices and tariffs have changed little in a decade and left Guernsey Electricity unable to make adequate investment in essential infrastructure.
“I would be surprised if Guernsey Electricity didn’t approach us fairly soon. That’s not in our hands - that’s in their hands," said Deputy Roffey, President of the States' Trading Supervisory Board.
Pictured: As of today, electricity prices and tariffs are overseen by the States' Trading Supervisory Board, led by Deputy Peter Roffey, and cannot be changed without the Board's permission.
"The next move is for Guernsey Electricity. If they want to make any changes to their tariff structure, then they will have to approach us for permission to do that.
"We would expect them to go through public consultation before doing that and we would obviously retain some independent expertise to help us appraise that request.
“I would expect them to be looking to make some kind of application relatively soon. We know that they are not able to invest in the grid and the generation infrastructure in the island because of their debt levels. Their tariffs have remained relatively unchanged for a decade.
“But the ball is in Guernsey Electricity's court rather than ours. There is nothing we can do until we receive an application.”
Pictured: Electricity tariffs and prices previously approved by the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority remain in force unless and until the States' Trading Supervisory Board approves changes.
Changes to electricity legislation - agreed by the States last Wednesday to come into force today - essentially return responsibility on prices and tariffs to where it sat 20 years ago - to a States' committee - before the commercialisation of Guernsey Electricity. However, the company's status as a States-owned commercial operator is unchanged.
In those days, responsibility for prices sat with the States' Electricity Board. Whereas the States' Electricity Board ran electricity more like a conventional States' committee, the States' Trading Supervisory Board is more hands off. Guernsey Electricity is run at arm's length from the States and the States' Trading Supervisory Board's role is to act as shareholder on behalf of the States, who in turn own the company on behalf of the people of Guernsey.
The transfer of responsibility for regulating prices and tariffs eventually agreed on Wednesday was years in the making.
A review of utility regulation advised it back in 2015. In the States, across successive Assemblies, support gradually fell away for the role played by the independent regulator - initially the Office of Utility Regulation, then the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authority and finally the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority.
The States' Trading Supervisory Board's new role overseeing electricity tariffs may or may not be temporary. For now, it applies at least until the Committee for Economic Development presents proposals for the future licensing of electricity, and this is not expected until 2023 at the earliest.
Pictured: Deputy Neil Inder, President of the Committee for Economic Development, which expects to present proposals for the future licensing of electricity in Guernsey, but not before 2023.
The Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority responded to the States' decision last Wednesday by announcing that it was "closing [two] consultation processes with immediate effect".
"The Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority is currently consulting on two matters that concern Guernsey Electricity's prices," said the regulator.
"The first relates to Guernsey Electricity's standby charge for embedded electricity generation.
"The second is a proposed modification to Guernsey Electricity's electricity licence to oblige Guernsey Electricity to provide a greater degree of transparency in relation to prices negotiated under Section 16, Special Agreements, which would also allow the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority to set or constrain such prices.
“In light of the amendment to the Electricity Law, the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority is closing both of these consultation processes with immediate effect.”
The regulator advised that all enquiries about electricity prices should now be directed to the States' Trading Supervisory Board.
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