NORTHERN Ireland Electricity's 8 per cent cut in household bills is not enough, according to the industry regulator and watchdog committee. Because NIE is to reduce standing charges from £15.20 sterling to £7.94 per quarter for domestic customers, people whose usage of electricity is low will benefit most. For large industrial and commercial customers, the reduction will be 13 per cent.
Operations director Mr Harry McCracken said the company had managed to contain last year's price increases to below the rate of inflation, and this year's reductions reflected the substantial efficiency gains made over the last four years.
NIE's announcement of the new tariffs comes ahead of the publication of a report on NIE prices by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. This was prompted by the lack of agreement between NIE and the regulator, Mr Douglas McIldoon, who wanted a 12.5 per cent price cut.
He says there is still "an unacceptably large gap" between prices in Britain and Northern Ireland of around 30 per cent, not counting the latest reductions.
"Customers must await the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report and the outcome of discussions with the generators, to see how much more the yawning price gap with Great Britain can be closed," Mr McIldoon said.
The chairperson of the Northern Ireland Consumer Committee for Electricity, Ms Joan Whiteside, said she welcomed the reduction in standing charges, which would deliver reductions of up to 24 per cent to low users, including many elderly people.
"But after the cuts, Northern Ireland will still have the highest domestic electricity prices' in the UK, and we are looking for further reductions later in the year," she said.
