HC Deb 27 October 1997 vol 299 cc693-5W
Mr. Webb

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate she has made of the real level of average

Average annual household standard credit electricity bills1,2,3,4: real 1995 prices5 including VAT
£
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
Eastern Electricity n/a n/a 346 n/a 338 321 312 306 298 n/a
East Midlands Electricity n/a n/a 335 n/a 338 329 320 317 316 n/a
London Electricity n/a n/a 383 n/a 384 364 355 342 322 n/a
MANWEB n/a n/a 364 n/a 369 350 342 339 334 n/a
Midlands Electricity n/a n/a 346 n/a 354 336 327 325 316 n/a
Northern Electric n/a n/a 355 n/a 354 336 329 323 312 n/a
NORWEB n/a n/a 339 n/a 351 333 325 322 316 n/a
SEEBOARD n/a n/a 350 n/a 351 340 330 325 312 n/a
Southern Electric n/a n/a 337 n/a 347 326 317 306 298 n/a
SWALEC n/a n/a 359 n/a 369 350 342 334 325 n/a
SWEB n/a n/a 364 n/a 371 348 338 333 316 n/a
Yorkshire Electricity n/a n/a 344 n/a 354 333 324 320 316 n/a
Hydro-Electric n/a n/a 311 n/a 310 295 294 289 286 n/a
Scottish Power n/a n/a 304 n/a 309 293 294 290 287 n/a
Great Britain average8 n/a n/a 348 n/a 352 335 325 322 313 n/a

household bills for electricity in Great Britain as a whole and for each region of Great Britain in each year since 1978. [12833]

Mr. Battle

The available data are given in the table.

£
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 19966 1997
Eastern Electricity 291 278 280 289 297 288 275 291 282 279
East Midlands Electricity 300 287 289 297 306 298 296 300 276 258
London Electricity 311 298 301 313 318 299 304 302 290 275
MANWEB 325 311 314 322 329 321 313 323 313 288
Midlands Electricity 306 293 295 304 309 297 282 294 284 267
Northern Electric 307 294 301 315 325 302 315 308 296 279
NORWEB 300 288 290 298 304 296 291 277 273 255
SEEBOARD 304 291 294 303 310 300 288 289 275 259
Southern Electric 299 287 290 299 306 298 294 294 286 260
SWALEC 318 306 314 331 337 327 330 337 325 306
SWEB 319 307 313 325 333 320 326 322 309 280
Yorkshire Electricity 308 296 300 305 309 298 284 297 277 248
Hydro-Electric 280 270 276 282 289 285 285 289 284 268
Scottish Power 280 271 276 281 285 277 290 295 289 269
Great Britain average8 304 291 294 303 310 298 294 298 286 269

Source:

Electricity Association—1980 to 1988; DTI—1989 to 1997, based on published tariffs and rebates from Public Electricity Suppliers.

Notes:

1 Based on an annual consumption of 3,300kWh.

2 Bills from 1989 include all tariff changes and rebates but exclude discounts offered by some companies for prompt payment.

3 Data from 1989 relates to the total bill received during the year, which for credit consumers covers consumption in Q4 of previous year to Q3 in year in question. Specific bills based on tariffs at 1 April are used pre 1989.

4 Data pre 1989 and post 1988 are calculated on different basis and so are not directly comparable, but do reflect the overall trend.

5 Real prices are cash prices adjusted for the effects of inflation as measured by the GDP market price deflator.

6 1996 bills exclude the National Grid Discount. Customers in England and Wales received a one—off rebate of £54.60 (including VAT) during Q1 1996, following the flotation of the National Grid Company.

7 1997 bills are provisional in that they are based on tariffs as at end August 1997. Information for the year may change (for example with rebates) further changes will occur as revisions are made to the current estimate of the 1997 GDP deflator.

8 From 1989, averages are weighted by the number of domestic customers in 1994–95, prior to which data for each year are used.