Energy Prices

Mark Williams
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the total amount spent by (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses on gas and electricity in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks
Data on the amount spent by industry is not collected by sizeband, so we are unable to provide a breakdown for small or medium sized businesses.

The total spend by business on gas and electricity over the past three years has been as follows:

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|    |Gas  |Electricity|
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|2003|2,435|6,345      |
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|2004|2,770|7,120      |
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|2005|3,680|9,845      |
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In 2005, the UK price to industry for electricity was around the EU average price, and for gas the UK price to industry was 9 per cent. below the EU average price.