1st Feb 2006 07:01
OFGEM01 February 2006 R/5 1 February 2006 TRANSMISSION PRICE CONTROL REVIEW: CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PROJECTIONS 2007 - 2012 Energy regulator Ofgem is today (Wednesday) seeking views on the electricity andgas transmission companies' capital expenditure forecasts for 2007-2012. As part of Ofgem's review for the 2007-2012 transmission price controls, thefour companies forecasted a total capital expenditure of between £7 billion and£9 billion. Ofgem is now offering the industry and other organisations thechance to submit their views on the forecasts ahead of the third consultationdocument for the review, set to be published in March. Ofgem recognises that investment in the gas and electricity networks isimportant and that it needs to happen in an efficient and timely way in order tobest protect customer interests. The price control will therefore setappropriate incentives to allow for this. -ends- Notes to editors 1. A copy of the open letter: 'Transmission Price Control Review (TPCR): Capitalexpenditure projections 2007 - 2012' is available at www.ofgem.gov.uk 2. One of the functions performed by Ofgem is to set a limit on the revenue thatcan be recovered by gas and electricity transmission companies. Revenuerestrictions or 'price controls' are needed because these companies retain aneffective monopoly on their licensed activities. The second consultation forthe Transmission Price Control Review follows on from an initial documentpublished in July. The consultation process will result in the publication of afinal set of proposals for each transmission licensee towards the end of 2006. 3. The current timeline for the review is below. The process includes optionsfor additional documents to be published if required. In addition, workshopswill take place for stakeholders and companies to discuss particular aspects ofthe review. Third Consultation March 2006 Initial Proposals: June 2006 Updated Proposals: September 2006 Final Proposals: December 2006 4. This is the first time Ofgem has been able to review the price controls forall gas and electricity transmission businesses at the same time. This willprovide a consistent approach to the comparison of the companies' performance inthe review. To do this Ofgem had to align the price controls of all four of thelicensees: National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), National Grid Gas NTS,Scottish Power Transmission Limited and Scottish Hydro-Electric TransmissionLimited. The alignment required Ofgem to extend NGET's price control for oneyear from April 2006-2007. Ofgem's final proposals in relation to this can befound at www.ofgem.gov.uk 5. Ofgem is the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets, which supports theGas and Electricity Markets Authority, the regulator of the gas and electricityindustries in Great Britain. Ofgem's aim is to bring choice and value to all gasand electricity customers by promoting competition and regulating monopolies.The Authority's powers are provided for under the Gas Act 1986, the ElectricityAct 1989 and the Utilities Act 2000. For further press information contact: Chris Lock: 020 7901 7225, Mark Wiltsher: 0207 901 7006 Out of hours contact: 07766 511470 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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