Jersey Electricity sites (FOI)

​Request

I have concerns over how lenient the parish and the states are towards the JEC considering the fact that it has private shareholders.

A

I wish to have confirmation that the sites on which the JEC operates including la collete power station is owned by the JEC. If the sites are not owned by them or any portion of it is not, then what payments are made and to what parties?

B

For the last ten years, by year, I would like to know the rents are paid by the JEC to the parish or the states of jersey for the aforementioned site.

C

I would also like to know if they use any sites for any purpose for which they are not the owners and for which they do not pay any rental at all.

Response

A

The La Collette Power Station site is owned by the Public of the Island and is leased to Jersey Electricity plc on two contract leases passed in the Royal Court in 1964 and 1998. The site comprises of two parcels of land, being the main site known as Power Station Site Land LC09 and an extension of the site, known as Power Station Extension Land LC08.

B

The rent paid annually for ground site LC09 is £1,000 per year for the last ten years, as recently reported in the Jersey Evening Post on 8 October 2016.

C

As well as the La Collette site, the public lease or licence to Jersey Electricity plc the following sites for which the Public also receives rental:

• Bel Royal Bunker (West)

• JEC La Collette Gas Turbine Groundsite (LC22A)

• JEC Primary Substation South Hill

• JEC St Agatha Terminal Station 1

• JEC St Agatha Terminal Station 2

The rental paid for groundsite Power Station Extension Land LC08 and the above five sites is commercially sensitive and the public authority is therefore refusing this part of the request under Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

In addition to the sites mentioned above, the public of the Island lease to Jersey Electricity plc 63 substation sites and five section-pillar sites for a nominal rental payment. Typically, substation and section-pillar sites are leased to Jersey Electricity plc under contract leases for a period of 99 years at one GBP (£1.00) per annum, and more recently £10 per annum, which is usually paid in full at the commencement of the lease.

Contract leases are freely available to view on the Public Registry Index and Document Enrolment (PRIDE) system, which can be accessed either at the Public Registry, in the basement of the States Building, or at the Jersey Archive on Clarence Road.

The States of Jersey does not hold information regarding any sites owned by the 12 parishes that may be let to Jersey Electricity plc. Jersey Electricity plc is not covered by the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, and any information held by parishes would need to be requested under a separate Freedom of Information request to FOI@parish.gov.je

Exemptions applied

Article 33 – Commercial interests 

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Article 33 is a Qualified Exemption and is therefore subject to a Public Interest Test.

Justification for the exemption

The information is of significant commercial value and its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the third party and the scheduled public authority.

Therefore we consider it would not be in the public interest to release this information at this time and this exemption should be maintained.