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< Parliament announces inquiry into fuel poverty and recent initiatives | Germany to cut solar subsidies >
Watchdog says government got good deal when it sold its British Energy stake
The UK government achieved a good price when it sold its stake in nuclear power generator British Energy to Electricite de France for £4.4 billion, the National Audit Office has concluded.
However the independent public spending watchdog has stressed it is too early to say whether the deal will ensure new nuclear-build happens as soon as possible and without any form of public subsidy.
The NAO report into the sale, published today, also raises a question mark over who will pick up the tab in the event of any shortfall in the provisions for meeting the huge costs of decommissioning existing nuclear stations. The watchdog is concerned that the public purse may yet have to underwrite some of these costs.
"The biggest priority for the government was to ensure new nuclear power stations could be built from the earliest possible date and with no public subsidy. Whether it will achieve this remains to be seen," said Amyas Morse, head of the NAO.
He added: "The Department of Energy and Climate Change needs to make real progress on its contingency plans should EDF be unwilling to build new nuclear power stations."
Edward Leigh, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, commented:"The truth is, although the government is no longer a shareholder in British Energy this isn't the end of the story as far as the taxpayer is concerned."
The government sold its 36 per cent stake in British Energy to EDF in January 2009 for £4.4 billion, or 774 pence a share. Energy prices were then at a peak, so the sale was considered to provide a good price.
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