Guernsey electricity price rises a concern, survey suggests

The cost of electricity in Guernsey is a primary concern for islanders, a survey has suggested.

Guernsey Electricity (GEL) said 3,617 islanders aged over 16 participated in a survey on how the company could evolve its services and tariffs.

In July, tariffs were raised by 8% after the States’ Trading Supervisory Board granted GEL permission to do so.

GEL said the results of the survey found customers were also concerned about the security of electricity supply and they wanted more transparency on what was driving price rises and how the firm was reinvesting tariff revenues.

The utility said price rises were “necessary” to support ongoing projects in Guernsey, including maintaining and upgrading power stations and the underground cable network.

It said it was committed to providing more transparency around how costs were created and recovered through fixed charges in the future, adding it would also explore “potential options” to provide more notice and predictability around future price increases.

Gareth Wordingham, customer, product and innovation lead at GEL, said it was “the biggest customer feedback survey we have undertaken in a decade”.

“We would like to thank everyone who took the opportunity to participate,” he said.

“The next step for us is to set out a clear pathway for tariff reform, including an explanation of how fixed costs are going to be recovered.”

Island Global Research was commissioned to conduct the survey in September.

Managing director Lindsay Jefferies said the survey findings could be considered “representative of the wider views of Guernsey residents, with statistically notable differences by financial status included in the report”.