Isle of Man FREEZES electricity bills for the winter while Britons brace for 80% energy bill hike

The Isle of Man will become the first place in the British Isles to freeze energy bills in a cost-of-living scheme that is expected to cost as much as £26million.

Electricity bills for the island’s 84,000 residents, which were expected to rise to 37.4p per unit from October 1, will now be capped at the current 22p until March 31 2023.

The self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea said it has introduced the ‘comprehensive package’ of government support to help ‘residents and businesses through the winter months’.

It comes after the Armed Forces Minister James Heappey yesterday talked down the idea of a similar freeze being introduced in the UK, as Britons face an 80 per cent hike in energy bills this autumn.

The scheme in the Isle of Man is expected to cost between £16million and £26million and is being funded by a government loan which will be repaid over 20 years.

The island’s treasury minister Dr Alex Allinson also announced a number of other cost-of-living measures including capping bus fares at a maximum of £2 per journey and a further round of targeted support payments for those in receipt of child benefits and those on low incomes.

Minister Allinson said: ‘The aim here is to flatten the curve on the cost-of-living increases and give households a degree of certainty and time to adjust to what may be a longer term set of challenges.

‘Providing a loan with a 20-year repayment means that the costs of record electricity prices expected this winter can be factored into bills over a much longer period, cushioning consumers from what would be, for many, crippling price rises.

‘It is a considerable sum which will help people and businesses to meet rising costs and means this money can circulate in our economy, boosting both consumer and business confidence.’

There have been calls for an energy bill freeze in the UK from the Labour Party and from the boss of Scottish Power Keith Anderson, who revealed on Tuesday that he had asked the Government to support a £100billion loan scheme to allow energy companies to freeze bills for two years.

But Mr Heappey told Sky News yesterday that a ‘universal freezing of everybody’s energy bills’ does not help get ‘taxpayers’ money into the bank accounts of people who need it most’.

Britons are facing an 80 per cent hike in energy bills this autumn, with forecasts predicting average costs could increase to more than £3,500.

It is expected that some people could pay almost double for their gas and electricity from October 1, with energy regulator Ofgem set to reveal the amount suppliers can charge households tomorrow.

Suppliers have attempted to step up their support of those hit hardest by the price increases, with British Gas pledging to use 10 per cent of its profits to help its worst-hit customers. 

The Government has already pledged to £30billion to help households struggling with soaring energy bills, which have been driven up surging gas prices caused by the war in Ukraine and has contributed to levels of inflation not seen in decades. 

The Isle of Man’s self-government means it can, and often does, do things differently from its larger neighbours. 

In 1881 it was the first national parliament to give some women the vote in a general election and in 2006 it led the way by giving votes to 16 and 17-year-olds.

The island also had different rules during the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming the first place in the British Isles to scrap most lockdown restrictions in mid-June 2020.

There have been just 116 Covid-related deaths on the Isle of Man since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest government surveillance report.

Isolation rules were strictly enforced on the island to try to stop the disease spreading from the UK.

Dale McLaughlan, 28, was jailed for 25-mile journey from Scotland to the Isle of Man on a jet-ski to visit his girlfriend Jessica Radcliffe, 30, in January 2021.

It took the roofer from Irvine, North Ayrshire four-and-a-half hours to make it across the sea, having never ridden a jet-ski before.

He then walked 15 miles to his girlfriend’s home but was arrested the next day after being stopped during a night of drinking in the island’s capital Douglas.

Meanwhile a woman who turned up drunk at her ex-boyfriend’s home before throwing appliances worth £800 out of a top floor window was jailed for breaking Covid-19 laws.

Rosemary Burgess, 19, from Douglas, admitted entering someone else’s home and causing damage during the island’s lockdown. She was jailed for 20 weeks.

Another Isle of Man resident, Christopher Christian, was jailed in March 2021 after he went to a Co-Op store to top up the credit on his mobile phone when he was meant to be self-isolating.