Price Of Electricity In Sark To Drop

The unit price of electricity in Sark will fall from 53 pence to 44 pence from the beginning of August.

The new rate will mean it's cheaper to use electricity in Sark than it is in Alderney by a margin of nearly 10 pence a unit. 

Alan Witney-Price, the managing director of the sole generating and distribution company, says traditionally, Sark has had the most expensive tariffs in all of the Channel Islands:

"I think pre me there was a conversation around the 70s per unit, and certainly with the Ukraine crisis, prices have been significantly higher."

Mr Witney-Price says there are a number of factors behind the price drop, including the falling global cost of oil. He says positive negotiations with the Sark Electricity Price Control Commissioner have also helped.

His ambition now is to drive prices down further and says there are a series of goals:

"If we can start to reconnect some of the customers who are currently off grid, up north. And some customers are moving to electric cookers rather than gas while some customers are looking to move to electric heating, rather than oil. So bringing those on board will increase unit sales, and of course unit sales, on the fixed costs we have today, will bring down the unit price."