At the launch of its 2011-12 Annual Report, the Utility Regulator said its focus of continually protecting consumers was demonstrated through identifying savings of £250million and facilitating investment in energy and water infrastructure of almost £5billion since 2006.
Speaking at the launch, Shane Lynch, Utility Regulator chief executive said,
“Our focus is on the twin challenges of protecting consumers and ensuring the necessary investment for the future. Since 2006, we have seen almost £5billion of investment in infrastructure assets. However, the energy and water infrastructures need continual investment, therefore, to protect consumers, we must also ensure there is efficient investment. We will do this by being objective, and by applying our statutory duties and sound regulatory principles. We aim to set out our stall very clearly to ensure that investment in utilities in Northern Ireland remains an attractive proposition for investors.
“Our ongoing scrutiny has identified £250m of savings for consumers since 2006, which may otherwise have been passed on to consumers in higher bills. 2012-13 will see several other price controls completed, including NIE’s RP5 and NI Water’s PC13.
“Systems are now in place to allow unlimited switching for both electricity and gas consumers. In the natural gas market, there was an unprecedented 2508 switches in June 2011. Within electricity, Budget Energy entered the market, which brings the number of suppliers in the domestic market to five. We will continue to monitor the development of both these markets to ensure they continue to work in the best interests of consumers.
“During 2011-12, NI Water made good progress to deliver the actions in our Freeze/Thaw Recover Plan. The company has also made steady progress in cost efficiency and service delivery. However, an efficiency gap with comparable water companies in GB still exists. In 2012-13, through our price control (PC13), we will challenge NI Water to continue to close this gap.”