Written question asked by Mark Todd (Labour) on Thursday, 18 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 2010. It was answered by David Kidney (Labour) on Thursday, 25 March 2010 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Energy: Prices

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons the EU Directive on (a) an internal market in electricity and (b) Common Rules for an Internal Market in Natural Gas was not implemented until September 2009; and what assessment he has made of the effects on energy prices of the timing of the implementation of each directive.

Answer: The Government believe they have done all that is required to implement the Internal Market in Electricity and Gas directives. The Commission was notified of the implementation of the directive (except for provisions relating to the requirement for electricity companies to disclose their fuel mix to final customers and the requirement for Ofgem to act as dispute settlement authority between energy undertakings) in October 2004. No assessment has been made of the effects on energy prices of the timing of the implementation of each directive.

Secondary information