TOWARDS the end of last month, the Office of Utility Regulation issued a release saying that following a request from Guernsey Electricity to increase tariffs it had approved an electricity price increase of 8.5% with effect from 1 April.

It also explained that GE was initially looking to recover additional costs of £10.5m incurred between 2008 and 2009 and that in January it put in revised information looking to recover more than £18m. in additional costs, which would have indicated a price rise of 26%.

That did two things: it prompted a headline in this newspaper, Electricity up 8.5% – GE wanted 26%, and a furious response from the utility itself, which claimed it had done no such thing.

Electricity’s normally imperturbable managing director was angered beyond speech by the OUR release and the headlines it triggered but, perhaps unfortunately, has decided to make no formal response.

This newspaper subsequently approached the regulator to obtain an explanation of how it arrived at its figures and why it presented them as it did. Also unfortunately, as we report today, it has declined to do so.

This is clearly an unsatisfactory state of affairs. Under the method of regulation enjoyed – GE might adopt different language – the utility provides the OUR with information it asks for and a tariff is duly handed down from on high.

It never knows why or how the OUR has arrived at it and has never had an opportunity to discuss that process.

And it is likely GE management is irritated by the implication in the OUR release that they suddenly discovered an extra £8m. in costs which they then wanted to dump on consumers in short order.

As for the OUR, if the forthcoming appeal against its decision on postal prices isn’t make or break, a pending requete, or States petition, about the future shape of regulation may well be.

Consumers undoubtedly benefit from the virtual competition provided as a result of regulation and the presence of the regulator ought to be a useful spur to the operations it scrutinises – but only if everyone knows what’s going on.