Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate her Department has made of trends in UK (a) wholesale and (b) domestic energy prices compared to those of the UK's G7 competitors.

With regards to wholesale electricity prices, DECC does not make internal assessments of wholesale prices in G7 countries, but we do review data from external publications (including the IEA Energy Prices Publication by the International Energy Agency). Wholesale electricity prices vary across countries because of differences in energy mix, i.e. the type of generation (coal, gas, nuclear, wind, etc) available in the country; differences the type of market and regulatory framework in place, and differences in interconnection, i.e the links to other countries.

With regards to domestic energy prices, DECC publishes the UK’s rank in the G7 for domestic electricity and gas prices in its quarterly publications on domestic electricity and gas prices in the IEA. For domestic electricity, including taxes, the UK ranked 4th highest in the G7 in 2013. For domestic gas, including taxes, the UK ranked 3rd lowest in the G7 in 2013. These ranks have not changed in the last 5 years.