A HUGE 40 per cent increase in the price of household electricity in mid and north Wales is almost three times higher than it should be based on the fuel mixes used in power-generation, checks by this column show.

People in the south Wales region, which includes parts of Ceredigion and Powys, and the whole of Carmarthenshire, are almost as badly affected.

The finding is particularly disturbing because of high levels of fuel poverty in rural Wales. In Ceredigion alone, about 21 per cent of households are on such low incomes they are unable to keep homes adequately warm.

UK government data shows the average unit price for electricity in mid and north Wales following April’s overall 54 per cent energy price cap increase is higher than anywhere else in the UK apart from London.

In both places, electricity prices have jumped by about 40 per cent, taking the average price per unit to 28.2p. But though the additional financial burden for consumers in both places is the same, the ability to cope with it isn’t. In low-wage Ceredigion, average pay is £18,915; the London average is £53,700.

In England’s southern region, electricity costs an average 27.1p a unit, compared with 28.2p in rural Wales. In the affluent south-east of England, households now pay an average 26.5p a unit for their electricity - and enjoy average pay of £38,900. How’s that for fairness, let alone equality?

For Wales, energy prices and income and benefit levels are non-devolved areas, and direct action from the Welsh governments to tackle fuel poverty has generally focused on energy-efficiency measures. The crazy disparity between electricity prices in rural Wales and rich parts of the UK must now be an urgent spur for a Senedd refreshed after next month’s elections to give high priority to gaining control over Wales’s energy prices.

Movement in this direction is currently unbelievably inadequate, with the Cardiff government saying merely that it has a “goal” to “use our influence to ensure that the UK government, energy regulator and energy companies consider and meet the needs of people living in Wales.”

And is there a timetable linked to that goal? Indeed there is - 2035.

The assumption must be that one reason April’s wholly excessive, and illogical, percentage hike in the electricity price cap has until now escaped public scrutiny and condemnation is that Ofgem has consistently referred only to an “energy price cap rise”. It has pointed to “an increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 per year” for consumers on “default tariffs paying by direct debit.” It has thus been talking about bills for gas-and-electricity households; it has neglected to go into detail on the price cap increase for electricity alone, or address the particular financial stresses that may be exerted on consumers who have only electricity on tap.

Ofgem has referred to a 54 per cent increase in the “energy” price cap, which it says has been “driven by a record rise in global gas prices.” Enabled by the cap rise, energy supply companies duly increased their overall charges by about the same percentage amount.

What Ofgem has not made clear is that UK government figures show not a 54 per cent increase in electricity prices across the UK, but an average rise of about 47 per cent.

Reflecting National Grid statistics, Ofgem last week told this column that, in 2021, only about 37 per cent of British electricity was generated by gas power-stations. Most comes from wind-turbines, photovoltaics, hydroelectric plants and other renewable sources, and from nuclear plants, biomass and coal.

The conclusion is clear. Based on the limited extent to which gas is used to generate our electricity, the household electricity price should not have risen by an average of 47 per cent, but by slightly over 17 per cent.

Following the same calculation, rural Wales would be seeing an increase of, not 40 per cent, but about 14 per cent.

Rural Wales candidates who are elected in next month’s polls and who have the public interest at heart must direct a laser-sharp focus on sorting out this extraordinary injustice.