How much more will net zero add to our electricity prices?

Around 25 years ago three States departments were transferred to limited companies – States Electricity Board, Guernsey Telecoms and Guernsey Post.

The shares in Electricity and Post were, and still are so far as I know, wholly owned by the States. The shares in Telecoms were sold to the private sector.

Now that letter post volumes have fallen away, Electricity is the only one of the three that still has an effective monopoly.

Guernsey Electricity gave a long answer to Ron Cleal’s letter, all of which is plausible. The only thing I’d say is that, until you face real competition you just don’t know how efficient you can be, or how much you can cut down your costs if you have to.

But neither Ron in his letter, nor Electricity in their answer, had anything to say about the cost effect of going for so-called net zero, so one can only speculate how much this is also currently adding to the electricity price, or how much more it will add in the future.

In the same issue of the Guernsey Press you carried an article about a proposed wind farm around our coast. This is at best a high-risk project, and at worst a vanity project which could easily squander eye-watering amounts of money. So the Guernsey taxpayers (or electricity consumers) should not be asked to carry the risks of this project. It needs to be done as a private venture.

I would say to Dr Mark Leybourne – take it on yourself if you wish, and if it makes you very rich then good luck to you.

To Deputy Meerveld I would say – take very great care you don’t waste huge sums of taxpayers’ money to no good purpose.

To yourselves, Guernsey Press, I would point to the letter which I sent you about the ill-fated Missunde III, the story of which could be something of a case study in how the public sector can waste huge amounts of public money when dabbling in new technologies (and in other cases as well).

The only role of the States in such a project should be to approve (or otherwise) the necessary planning permissions.

BOB PERKINS

Les Corneilles

Rue de la Ronde Cheminee

Castel