Centrica welcomes UK Government zonal pricing decision

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Centrica has welcomed the UK Government's zonal pricing decision for wholesale electricity. The UK Government has decided to step away from a plan to split Britain’s wholesale electricity market into zones, which would have resulted in much of England and Wales paying more than other parts of the country.

Centrica, from the outset, has been against zonal pricing. At a time when the UK urgently needs to accelerate investment in clean energy, introducing a fragmented pricing model would have only added confusion and instability.

Chris O’Shea, Group Chief Executive of Centrica says, “Ruling out zonal pricing is a common-sense decision which will be welcomed by hard pressed UK bill payers. The theoretical benefits never stacked up against the real-world risks - it would have undermined investment and pushed up costs for consumers.”

“There was a danger that those lobbying for this were looking to create a market with new distortions which would risk investment and introduce an unfair postcode lottery for consumers. At this time, we should be working towards making the energy system simpler and more equitable for everyone while delivering clean power by 2030.”