Written question asked by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 11 December 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 14 December 2017 (named day). It was answered by Margot James (Conservative) on Thursday, 14 December 2017 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Electricity: Prices

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which stakeholders his Department has held discussions with on national fixed pricing for electricity distribution; when the meetings took place, and if he will publish details of those discussions.

Answer: The Government undertakes a triennial review of the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme. As part of the last review which completed in July 2016, we concluded that there was not a good case for a national fixed tariff for distribution as the move away from cost reflective charging risked increasing overall network costs for consumers across GB. Ofgem’s assessment of regional differences in network charges, which was published in October 2015, concluded that there was no compelling case from a regulatory perspective for a national fixed tariff. Ofgem found that it would have left 16 million households worse off, with only 11 million benefitting.

Secondary information