§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the generating capacity of(a) the South of Scotland electricity board and (b) the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board on the latest available figures; how this compares with the level of domestic consumption in these areas; and what are the corresponding figures for each of the last eight years.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 16 November 1987]: The information, provided by the Scottish electricity boards, 544W is set out in the table. However, it should be noted that meaningful comparisons cannot readily be drawn between generating capacity and annual consumption by domestic electricity users. Although the capacity figures are given separately for each board, their generating plant is operated on a merit order basis under the joint generating agreement.
SSEB NSHEB Maximum available sent-out capacity1 (mega-watts) Domestic users' consumption (gigawatt hrs.) Maximum available sent-out capacity1 (mega-watts) Domestic users' consumption (gigawatt hrs.) 1979–80 7826 7761 2094 3128 1980–81 7826 7294 2104 3023 1981–82 6356 7398 2522 3034 1982–83 6301 7102 3128 2899 1983–84 6248 7305 3134 3003 1984–85 6300 7026 3211 2975 1985–86 6160 7676 2570 3191 1986–87 6160 7725 2572 3204 1 Excludes oil-fired capacity held in reserve.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the profits of(a) the South of Scotland electricity board and (b) the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board for each of the last eight years.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 16 November 1987]: The information is set out in the following table:
Year ended 31 March Current cost loss Historic cost retained profit loss1 SSEB £ million NSHEB £ million SSEB £ million NSHEB £ million 1987 -73 -20 45 22 1986 -69 -18 44 17 1985 -141 -38 -12 5 1984 -52 -14 45 23 1983 -42 -7 44 29 1982 -51 -5 38 23 1981 -46 -16 35 17 1980 -82 -29 18 8 1 Before appropriation of supplementary depreciation.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much the price of electricity for domestic consumers has increased for each of the last eight years in the areas covered by(a) the South of Scotland electricity board and (b) the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board: and what has been the increase in the retail price index for each of those years.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 16 November 1987]: The information requested is set out in the table:
545W
Increase in Domestic Electricity Prices in Scotland 1979–87 Financial year North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board Per cent. South of Scotland Electricity Board Per cent. Annual average increase in retail price index over previous year Per cent. 1979–80 17.8 17.7 15.8 1980–81 28.8 30.5 16.3 1981–82 11.2 10.8 11.5 1982–83 8.9 9.4 7.1 1983–84 — — 4.7
Financial year North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board Per cent. South of Scotland Electricity Board Per cent. Annual average increase in retail price index over previous year Per cent. 19848–5 4.4 4.7 5.1 1985–86 4.3 4.3 5.9 1986–87 2.1 2.2 3.2