Premier – which owns and operates the Scotland to Northern Ireland Interconnector (SNIP) – proposed an operating expenditure allowance for the three years 2011-2014 of £24.8 million which, in its final decision, UR reduced to £9.3 million. The regulator cut BGT’s allowance to £3.5 million from the company’s £5.3 million proposal. BGT owns and operates the transmission pipeline from Ballylumford power station to the Belfast distribution network.
In its decision the regulator has made no substantive changes to its initial determination.
In its response to the consultation on the regulator’s initial determination, owner of both companies Mutual Energy said UR had provided “little justification for many of the reductions in costs” and accused the watchdog of having “an inherent desire to micromanage expenditure on the assets.”
More than £10 million of the disallowed expenditure at Premier related to work on the SNIP which the watchdog said was “uncertain”. UR disallowed other maintenance cost claims by Premier on the same grounds.