State of the NationGuernsey · Energy & utility prices
The rising cost of keeping the lights on.
Five straight years of above-inflation electricity rises, and a fixed standing charge that has climbed far faster than the price of the power itself.
Indexed to July 2023 = 100, so the fixed quarterly charge and the per-unit rate can be read on one scale. The standing charge was £30 a quarter before July 2023, so its full rise is larger than this index, which starts a year later, shows.
Standing charge since 2023
+198%
£30 to £89.35/qtr
Unit rate since 2023
+14.9%
the price of the power itself
July 2025 rise
+8%
vs RPI of 4.2%
Consecutive above-inflation rises
5
2022–2026
Five years running
Above-inflation, every year
The STSB-approved revenue-cap increase for Guernsey Electricity, each July since 2022. In 2024 and 2026 the approval came in below what GEL had applied for.
The July 2025 increase of 8% came against RPI of 4.2%, and drew an organised protest and a petition of more than 1,300 signatures. The 2026 rise of 5% sits against a latest all-items RPI of 4.3%.
States of Guernsey, GEL tariff decision, 26 May 2023; States of Guernsey, "STSB publishes Guernsey Electricity tariff decision", 22 May 2024; Guernsey Press, "Electricity prices are set to rise by 8% from July", 23 May 2025; States of Guernsey, GEL tariff decision, 28 May 2026.
Who pays
The fixed charge has outpaced the unit rate
The standing charge is levied per quarter regardless of how much electricity a household uses, so raising it falls hardest on the lowest-using, typically smaller and lower-income, homes.
Since July 2023 the fixed standing charge has risen +81% on the index above, while the unit rate rose 14.9%. Measured from its pre-July-2023 level of £30 a quarter, the standing charge has risen +198%, close to a tripling, to £89.35. Guernsey Electricity has said it knows customers see the recovery method as unfair and that it is committed to reforming it; for 2026 the STSB held the standing-charge rise to 3% and put more of the increase onto unit rates, so that, in its words, households using the least electricity would see the lowest bill increase.
GEL Revised Electricity Tariffs, effective 1 July 2024 (gov.gg); GEL Revised Electricity Tariffs, effective 1 July 2025 (gov.gg); GEL Revised Electricity Tariffs, effective 1 July 2026 (gov.gg); Guernsey Electricity, "Tariff Changes from 1st July 2023".
Cost of living
GEL's standing charge rebalancing
How much more islanders now pay just to be connected to the electricity network, regardless of usage - and how that compares with the price cap that protects households in Great Britain but not the Channel Islands.
The quarterly standing charge rose from £68.25 to £86.75 in 2025, as GEL’s share of revenue from standing charges (rather than usage) increased from 12.5% to 15%. The revenue-share change is stated in the STSB’s own answer; the pound figures come from Deputy Matthews’ question, which the Board did not restate or dispute. Ofgem’s GB price cap does not apply to the Channel Islands and is shown for scale only. A before/after pair plus one external comparator, not a time series.
In context
How Guernsey compares
Standard domestic electricity unit rate against Jersey and Great Britain. Reference dates differ (given per bar); standing charges are not included, as they are structured differently between systems.
Ahead of demand
A flat demand line, against a projected near-doubling
Recorded winter peak demand has been broadly flat since 2022, while the case for the network investment behind these bills projects peak roughly doubling by 2050.
Peak demand was 95 MW in 2022 and 85.9 MW in the winter of 2024/25. Guernsey Electricity itself says demand management could hold the 2050 peak to 125 MW rather than 157 MW, saving more than £160m, which is an acknowledgement that the higher figure is not fixed. The dashed lines are the investment case’s projection, not measured data.
Channel Eye, "One year milestone since Guernsey’s record electricity demand" (94.2 MW Jan 2024; 85.9 MW winter 2024/25); Guernsey Electricity, Annual Report and Accounts (15 months to 31 December 2024): 95 MW now to 157 MW by 2050, 125 MW with demand management.