Moyle publishes congestion charging consultationPress Release -Thursday 29th September 2011
Mutual Energy Limited Annual General Meeting
Mutual Energy Limited (MEL), owners and operators of the Scotland-Northern Ireland Gas Pipeline (SNIP), Belfast Gas Transmission Pipeline and Moyle Electricity Interconnector will hold its Annual General Meeting today, Thursday 29th September 2011 at 3.00pm in the Europa Hotel, Belfast. The company is reporting on its sixth full year of operation. The 2011 Annual Report and Accounts will be presented today to the company’s Members at the AGM.
Mutual Energy exists to own and operate major energy infrastructure assets for the benefit of Northern Ireland energy consumers, with all the benefits of the low cost of capital, and operational efficiencies being returned to energy consumers. Overall, the company remains on course to deliver the cost of capital savings of some £81 million calculated at the inception of its three investments.
In the past year MEL has left money in the pockets of Northern Ireland’s electricity consumers with a contribution of £13.6 million, following up on a contribution of £12.9 million last year. This means the company has continued with its track record of keeping electricity prices to consumers lower than they otherwise would have been by not having to call on customers to contribute to the cost of operating the Moyle interconnector. In the context of rising electricity tariffs, and the pressure this brings on hard-pressed consumers, this remains an important contribution.
The gas transmission businesses produced operational cost savings of £1.2 million before tax. A large part of these savings stemmed from a full review of all maintenance and monitoring operations in the gas businesses, which is also bringing additional benefits in terms of improved service and responses and the creation of two full-time jobs in Northern Ireland.
This year’s AGM comes, however, at a challenging time for the company with the Moyle Interconnector currently unavailable as a result of two sub-sea faults, one on each of its 250MW cables. With both faults located offshore, highly specialist expertise and equipment is required to identify and repair the faults. A repair programme has now been agreed with the cable manufacturers and it is expected that both cables will be back in operation by early 2012.
Speaking ahead of the AGM, Mutual Energy Chairman, Peter Warry, commented: “Mutual Energy continues to operate our major energy assets at a significantly lower cost to customers than if they had remained under their private shareholder ownership. At a time when significant investment is proposed in Northern Ireland’s electricity infrastructure, now is the time to consider how the mutual business model might be applied in a wider context to keep consumer costs at their lowest level.”
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Notes for editors
1. The Mutual Energy AGM takes place today (Thursday 29th September) at 3.00pm in the Rotunda suite at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. Copies of the 2011 Annual Report and Accounts will be distributed to the media and senior management of the company will be available immediately afterwards. Refreshments will be available.
2. For further information contact Owen McQuade, Lagan Consulting
028 9261 9550 or (mob) 07967 094494.