Natural Gas: Prices

Mr. Jenkins
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what the average cost has been of a unit of gas supplied to domestic dwellings in each year since 1997;

(2) what estimate he has made of the number of units of gas consumed in domestic dwellings in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997.

Mr. Kidney
The information is as follows:

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|                   |Domestic consumption (TWh)|Average price per unit (pence/kWh)|
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|1997               |345.5                     |1.8                               |
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|1998               |355.9                     |1.8                               |
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|1999               |358.1                     |1.7                               |
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|2000               |369.9                     |1.6                               |
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|2001               |379.4                     |1.6                               |
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|2002               |376.4                     |1.7                               |
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|2003               |386.5                     |1.8                               |
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|2004               |396.4                     |1.9                               |
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|2005               |384.0                     |2.1                               |
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|2006               |365.9                     |2.6                               |
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|2007               |352.9                     |3.1                               |
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|2008               |363.3                     |3.2                               |
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|2009               |1194.2                    |4.0                               |
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|1 January-June 2009|                          |                                  |
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Price information is the average unit price for GB customers consuming 18,000 kWh per year paying on standard credit terms. Figures for 2009 are provisional. Consumption data for 2009 are given up to the latest available month (June).