Stalled Brexit talks lead to higher UK energy bills, industry warns

Stalled Brexit talks make drive up UK energy bills by hundreds of millions of pounds a year, according to the electricity industry.

Some of Britain's electricity is supplied by submarine interconnectors from France, Belgium and the Netherlands - with imports coming in when demand increases the highest.

But the UK's exit from the EU single market in early 2021 forced it to use a more inefficient system of buying power through the connectors, driving prices up.

As part of the Brexit trade deal , the EU and the UK have agreed to work towards a better framework for electricity trading in place by this year - but none has yet been agreed.

UK officials believe Brussels is dragging its feet to agree and The new framework due to Britain's hard line on the Northern Ireland protocol, according to officials at the Politico EU website.

The UK has threatened to rewrite parts politically sensitive issues of the deal with Northern Ireland, a move which Brussels says breaches international law.

As a result, the EU has suspended cooperation in certain areas until the issue resolved, and launched a series of legal actions against the UK government.

"Our understanding is that the EU has given a strong signal that as long as the negotiations on the protocol [of Northern Ireland] will not be settled, there will be no movement on the electricity exchange agreements, ”said Adam Bermann, direct deputy ur of the Energy UK industry group, at Politico EU.

“While we understand the EU's position, we are now in the midst of an energy crisis — and when it comes to interconnectors electricity or gas cooperation, which is crucial for security of supply this winter, it may be worthwhile The EU is reviewing whether these points can be discussed bilaterally regardless of the state of the protocol negotiations.

Brussels, however, denies that the slow progress in setting up an alternative energy exchange system is linked.

A Commission spokesperson said: "The EU recognizes the importance of energy cooperation and is committed to continuing to work with the UK on energy."

The spokesperson said the delays were due to the "technical" nature of the talks.

Prime Minister Liz Truss and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met Wednesday for talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

< p>The issue of UK-EU energy relations was discussed, according to an official record of the meeting - although no further details were provided.

Britain imports around 8% of its total electricity, but this relatively low figure is misleading as imports are often called upon at crucial times to avoid blackouts when demand is highest.

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In July, the UK paid the highest price ever for electricity in London as the capital narrowly avoided a blackout.

National Grid paid £9,724 per megawatt hour, or over 5.00% of typical p rice, to Belgium to prevent south-east London from losing power.