§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the Government's target date for replacing the UK electricity pool system. [105421]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe target for the implementation of the new electricity trading arrangements is autumn 2000.
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the impact on the electricity pool price of the fire at Drax Power Station in December; and if he will make a statement on the related discussions he has had with the industry on this subject. [105420]
§ Mrs. LiddellAs a result of a fire at Drax power station on 27 December I understand that part of the output of the station will be unavailable for a period. It is not uncommon for some generating plants to be unavailable for technical reasons and there is adequate generating capacity available on the system to cover such incidents. The incident at Drax affected only around 1 per cent. of the available generation on the England and Wales system and the impact on Pool prices is small.