Jersey Gas saw a 45% drop in sales during lockdown, with hotels – some of the company’s biggest customers – remaining closed for weeks.
The business requested to be part of the government’s co-funding payroll scheme. However, the government refused, claiming that Jersey Gas had failed to provide financial information about whether its parent company – Isle of Man-based International Energy Group – or IEG’s owners, a private equity fund, had enough money to pay its Jersey-based employees.
As a result, Jersey Gas implemented a 6.5% tariff increase for gas dispensed after 1 May and talks between the government and the company, aimed at finding a solution, have since stalled.
Now, Carl Walker, the chairman of the Consumer Council, has urged representatives from both parties to resume talks and deliver a solution before cold weather hits.
‘Let’s get this sorted before the summer ends. Just because both parties are in a stand-off does not mean discussions should stop – they have got to continue because if it gets to winter and people start using gas more and more there are going to be serious issues and potentially hardship for some people,’ he said.
‘We know that a lot of pensioners already live on the breadline and rely on heating bonuses and other contributions from charities and philanthropy to get by and a 6.5% increase in their heating bill – they will not be able to afford it. We could end up in a situation, if we have a really cold winter, where elderly people living on pensions are too afraid to put their heating on.
‘If that happens we are going to be in serious trouble. So we need to put aside some of these barriers to having a full and frank discussion and get back around the table and keep trying until we get a solution. If that means the Consumer Council has to sit in the middle, then we are more than happy to do it.’
Jersey Gas has confirmed that bills for fuel dispensed from 1 May on the higher tariff are now being issued.
