§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will calculate the comparative costs of(a) electricity and (b) gas in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) the United States of America and (iii) the EU (1) before and (2) after the Climate Change Levy is introduced; and if he will make a statement. [88105]
§ Mr. BattleThe latest year for which international prices are available is 1997. Average industrial electricity and gas prices are as shown in the table. The final Climate Change Levy will not be set until the Finance Bill 2000, and the Chancellor has made it clear that significant discounts will be made available to energy intensive users who agree measures for improving energy efficiency.
Pence per kWh Electricity 1997 Gas 1997 United Kingdom 3.95 0.52 United States 2.67 0.71 European Union1,2 3.97 0.88 1 A simple arithmetic average of prices in the EU countries. 2 EU figures include taxes where not refunded; US electricity prices exclude taxes but gas prices include taxes. Source
Derived from the International Energy Agency publication, Energy Prices and Taxes Q2 1998 and DTI, Energy Trends.