§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what price elasticities of demand for domestic fuels were used in the document entitled "Energy Projections for the UK, Working Paper, March 2000"; and if he will make a statement. [121747]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe long run price elasticities of demand for domestic fuel implied in the working paper "Energy Projections for the UK, March 2000" are given in the table. This paper represents work in progress, on which comments have been invited.
Fuel Price elasticity Electricity -0.29 Gas -0.35 Oil -0.22 Solid fuel -1.46 The table is interpreted in the following way:
The electricity price elasticity implies that, in the long run, for a 10 per cent. increase in the price of electricity, demand for electricity would be expected to decrease by 2.9 per cent.