To cover the cost of upgrades to the national power grid households will face a futher increase in their electricity costs, this increase follows increases of €30 last year and €100 the previous year, with even more rises predicted for the next few years. The extra charge was made public by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and means every household is paying an extra €541 before they flick on a switch.
Many disagree with the decision to load the cost onto customer already struggling with their household energy bills.The number of households in arrears on their electricity bills has now reached over 320,000, an increase of close to 12 per cent .
Defending the decision CRU chairman Fergal Mulligan stated, “At a time when affordability remains a significant concern for electricty customers, the CRU’s role is to protect households by ensuring the costs reflected in bills are necessary, efficient and justified.”
“This year our decisions have limited the increase to end users to the greatest extent possible, while ensuring the necessary in our energy network continues at pace to cater for rising demand and our use of more green energy.”
The increased use of power by data centres must also be taken into consideration as a factor in the extra investment in the national grid.
