Single Electricity Market not working for Northern Ireland
12 May 2008
Traditional Unionist MEP, Jim Allister, following a recent visit to Lafarge Cement Ltd (Blue Circle) in Cookstown – one of Northern Ireland’s biggest consumers of electricity – has said the Single Electricity Market (SEM) is not working for NI business, with prices continuing to spiral, producing an ever-widening gap with GB. “The all-island energy policy may be reducing prices in the Republic, but here in Northern Ireland our manufacturers are paying more than ever”, declared the MEP.
In a statement following his discussions in Cookstown Mr Allister said:-
“With great trumpeting we were told the SEM and all-island energy policy would produce great benefits. The facts tell a very different story. In 2005 a large consumer, like Lafarge, was paying on average 4.07p per unit, while its counterpart in GB was paying 3.92p, today in GB a company will pay on average 4.87p, but Lafarge, for example, are paying 8.57p, a 76% premium over the GB rate. In GB the Cookstown plant’s consumption would cost £2M less per annum! This is outrageous and is crippling our competitiveness.
We were told the all-island energy market was in our interests and would reduce prices. It has done no such thing. In large measure this is because the ESB’s monoploy situation was not adequately addressed. We do not have a truly competitive market in operation. The SEM has de facto de-coupled us further from lower GB prices, without providing real competition. The lack of competition is such that recently when Lafarge was embarking on negotiations for supply, NIE didn’t even bother to bid – suggesting much too cosy an arrangement exists with ESB.
At present in the Industry Committee of the European Parliament there is a proposal demanding that generation and transmission of electricity should be totally unbundled. This has my support. I trust it will force the Commission to be more robust in its approach. Locally, the DETI Minister needs to revisit the workings of the all-island energy policy which he embraced a few months ago.
Securing inward investment is all very good and necessary, but if local manufacturers are being crippled by run-away electricity costs, then what future have they got? This issue requires hands-on attention.”
ENDS
