§ Ms EagleTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the(a) disadvantages and (b) benefits of the restructuring of the electricity industry for the consumer. [2632]
§ Mr. EggarElectricity privatisation has provided the electricity companies with the right incentives to become vigorously competitive commercial enterprises, while independent regulation has brought an end to political meddling. The consumer is benefiting through: prices which—net of tax—are some 7 per cent. lower in real terms in both the domestic and industrial markets, with further reductions to come including a one-off rebate of £50 for domestic electricity customers of the regional electricity companies in England and Wales arising from the flotation of the national grid, and other reductions arising from tightened price controls and the forthcoming reduction in the fossil fuel levy: guaranteed standards of performance for tariff customers, with compensation if those standards are not met; new codes of practice on such matters as services for the elderly and disabled; and the opportunity to complain to an independent regulator—the Director General of Electricity Supply—and for those complaints to he investigated by the Office of Electricity Regulation. Many consumers have already been given the right to shop around for their electricity supplier, and in 1998 this right will be extended to all consumers including over 20 million in the domestic sector.