Electricity bills will be FROZEN all winter – but only in one small part of the British Isles.
The Isle of Man, the self-governing Crown Dependency of 84,000 people in the Irish Sea, will fund the landmark move with a scheme like one being proposed for the UK.
Electricity bills will be capped at the current 22p per unit until 31 March 2023, avoiding a predicted rise to 37.4p from October 1.
Funded by a government loan to be repaid over 20 years, it will cost £16-26million.
A two-year freeze on both gas and electricity bills for the whole of the UK – proposed by Scottish Power – has been estimated at £100billion, and was dismissed today by a Tory minister.
UK citizens are allowed to move freely to the Isle of Man – though they may need a work permit to get a job.
(
Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The island will also trial a £2 cap on all bus fares for three months, and cost-of-living payments for 6,000 families in October and December.
By comparison, energy bills are set to rise from just under £2,000 to over £3,600 a year in the UK from October 1 – with the final figure announced on Friday.
The Ofgem price cap is then expected to rise further in January and April, with some projections claiming it could top £6,000 a year as energy bills soar.
Labour has called for a UK freeze on energy bills through the winter costing just under £30bn, with the money handed to energy firms to make up the difference between bills and soaring wholesale prices.
Scottish Power has proposed an alternative £100bn plan to freeze bills for two years, using government-backed loans that would be paid back through household bills over the course of 20 years.
The UK government is looking at the Scottish Power proposal.
The Isle of Man government did not pledge a freeze on gas bills, only electricity.
The island’s Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson said: “Unlike gas and oil, electricity is used by everyone on the Island, including businesses, meaning all will benefit from this intervention.
“We are shielding households, businesses and organisations from what would have been a sharp and sudden increase in electricity costs.
“Instead, people will have that money in their pockets this winter.”