U.K. opens up more areas to gas competition

The U.K. government has unveiled plans for opening up remaining areas of the country's residential gas market to competitive supply, with the target date for complete liberalization in April 1998. Remaining areas will be opened to competition in six steps, expected to begin in October, to complete a liberalization process that began in April 1996 (OGJ, Oct. 14, 1996, p. 23). Ian Lang, president of the Board of Trade, told Parliament, "I hope it will be possible to open Scotland and the

March 31, 1997

2 min read

The U.K. government has unveiled plans for opening up remaining areas of the country's residential gas market to competitive supply, with the target date for complete liberalization in April 1998.

Remaining areas will be opened to competition in six steps, expected to begin in October, to complete a liberalization process that began in April 1996 (OGJ, Oct. 14, 1996, p. 23).

Ian Lang, president of the Board of Trade, told Parliament, "I hope it will be possible to open Scotland and the Northeast of England for competition this autumn.

"This would give people there the opportunity for big savings on their gas bills, in time for next winter, which could be as much as 25%."

British Gas rebuff

A Department of Trade and Industry official said 18% of customers in Southwest England, the first to be offered a choice of gas supplier, had chosen a new supplier instead of former monopolist British Gas plc.

The official said 10% of residential customers in Southeast England, who were offered the choice beginning in March, have already changed their gas supplier.

Opening of Scotland and Northeast England will bring a further 2.5 million residential customers into the competitive market, roughly doubling the number to date.

The official said 1.5 million household customers are in Scotland and 1 million in Northeast England. It takes 2-3 months for gas companies to obtain supply licenses, "so there is still plenty of time to apply to serve Scotland and the Northeast."

The second of the remaining areas to be opened will be Northern England, consisting of Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Kingston-upon-Hull, Lancashire, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and York.

The third area will be roughly the northern Midlands, consisting of Cheshire, Derbyshire, North Lincolnshire, Northeast Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire.

The fourth area will consist of Wales, Gloucestershire, Hereford and Worcester, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, and Wiltshire.

The fifth area will consist of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckingham- shire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, and Suffolk.

The sixth and final area will be the largest, including Greater London and remaining areas. The official said the last five areas would each include 2.7-3.2 million residential customers.

Lang said the final decisions on dates of opening the areas depend on progress in setting up computerized transmission network management systems.