Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Monday, 9 March 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 March 2009. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Thursday, 12 March 2009 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Energy: Prices

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what records he holds on the cost of energy to (a) industry and (b) domestic users in the UK compared to such costs in each other EU member state.

Answer: Domestic and industrial retail prices for gas and electricity for EU member states are published in section 5 of "Quarterly Energy Prices", the latest edition of which was published in December 2008 and is available online at:"http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/energy/statistics/publications/prices/index.html"Estimates for July to December 2008 show that domestic gas and electricity prices in the UK, including taxes, were the lowest and fifth lowest in the EU15 respectively. Since 1998, UK domestic gas prices have been among the lowest in the EU15, and UK domestic electricity prices have generally been below the EU15 median price.For industry, estimated prices, including taxes, for July to December 2008 showed that gas prices were below the EU15 median. For electricity, estimated prices were above the EU15 median. Historically, electricity prices to industrial users have been below the EU average, and up to January 2006 industrial electricity prices were no higher than the EU average except for the very largest energy consumers.

Secondary information