§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her Department's assessment of the overall cost of the British Electricity Transmission and Trading Arrangements for Scottish electricity generators. [158534]
§ Mr. TimmsBETTA is a package of reforms, elements of which are likely to result in higher costs for Scottish generators, whilst others are likely to reduce costs. In aggregate, however, Ofgem estimates that the net impact of BETTA on Scottish generators will be broadly neutral.
This is because any increase in transmission charges will be offset by the removal of the current interconnector charges and charges for access to the England-Wales market. There will also be lower connection charges for Scottish generation.
1429WThe DTI has carried out an analysis of the possible impact of BETTA as part of the Energy Bill Regulatory Impact Assessment www.dti.gov.uk/energy/leg_and_reg/acts/ria.pdf. This found that the relevant market participants—principally British Energy and the two vertically integrated incumbents, Scottish Power and SSE—would be exposed to initial costs of around £7.5 million and on-going costs of some £0.5 million per year, although this excludes the redistributive effects brought about by a Great Britain-wide transmission charging regime.