Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 8 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 November 2005. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Monday, 14 November 2005 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Electricity

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of an average electricity bill covers the costs of electricity generated but subsequently lost in (a) production, (b) transmission, (c) distribution and (d) energy inefficiency within the household.

Answer: The price of electricity varies over time. The value of losses will be dependent on the value of electricity at the time the losses occurred. This means it is very difficult to determine an accurate value of the level of losses in England and Wales.A certain amount of electricity is used by generators to operate their businesses. Generators have strong financial incentives to restrict their losses as any electricity lost means they have less to sell. Approximately 1.5 per cent. of the electricity put on to the transmission network is lost. This represents approximately 0.6 per cent. of the average standard credit electricity bill. The level of electricity lost on the distribution networks varies from network to network. The simple average of losses on distribution networks is 6.3 per cent. This equates to about 2.4 per cent. of the average standard credit electricity bill. There are no figures available to answer the fourth part of this question. Energy inefficiency in the household is being tackled and the Government supports the Energy Savings Trust's save 20 per cent. campaign.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 27851; 439 c883-4W;439 c883-4W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Costs Conservation Billing Electricity generation Distribution Electricity Prices
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk