ESB Networks is seeking an increase of up to €1.60 a week over five years from families to help pay for expansion that includes the cost of connecting 300,000 new homes to the electricity system.
The State-owned company is responsible for the electricity distribution system, which includes lines that connect individual customers to the national grid, and is paid through network charges levied on bills.
In a submission to regulators, ESB Networks states that a proposed €13.4 billion investment plan for the next five years would boost the “typical distribution network cost” for a domestic customer to €337 a year from €254 a year over that period.
“This represents an increase of circa €1.60 per customer per week over the period, prior to any inflation,” said the company.
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“Similar increases would be required for business customers connected to the distribution network.”
An ESB Networks spokesman confirmed that “the Government’s target of 300,000 homes has been factored into our investment plans”.
The Coalition’s aim that the Republic should build that number of new homes up to 2030 to finally tackle its housing crisis will require investment in services and utilities.
State water company Uisce Éireann recently warned the Government that it faced an “immense task” in providing the infrastructure needed for this.
It also pointed out that multiple projects needed to facilitate new home building were bogged down in planning and appeals.
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However, responding to a query from The Irish Times, the ESB Networks spokesman said it had connected more than 147,000 new homes and businesses to the Republic’s electricity system over the last four years.
Demand for new electrical connections is high in the Republic, which the spokesman stressed had led to constraints on ESB Networks’ and national grid operator EirGrid’s systems.
“This high demand is driven by a range of factors including large energy users, electrification of transport, heat and industry, accelerated climate and housing targets and population growth,” he said.
The company’s Price Review 6 (PR6) submission to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities takes account of all these issues.
Many parts of the electricity distribution network can support more growth in the short term, but others will be limited without “the delivery of network reinforcement projects”, according to its spokesman.
The success of the Government’s climate action plan hinges partly on switching transport and heat to electricity and away from fossil fuels, while also sharply cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity system itself.
This will demand investment in the distribution system operated by ESB Networks and the national grid, which is EirGrid’s responsibility.
ESB Networks’ PR6 submission does not mean that regulators will give the company the entire increase that it is seeking.
