I wish to read into the record an e-mail we received from the ESB at 12.10 p.m. today regarding standing charges. As members will recall, the committee was interested in this. On behalf of the committee I had submitted a question to the ESB as regards these matters, which we will deal with at our January meeting. The e-mail states:
As part of the preparation for full market opening due February 2005 (all customer free to choose their electricity supplier) ESB undertook a review of existing standing charges.
Since the foundation of ESB, separate Standing Charges have applied to urban and rural customers. The latter paid a higher charge to cover the cost of supplying electricity over greater distances and to smaller clusters of dwellings.
The review found that due to unprecedented growth in the housing market (80,000 new connections in 2004) a limited number of areas around the country were incorrectly categorised as rural rather than urban because of the expansion of housing developments. On discovering the discrepancy, ESB immediately set about redesignating the relevant customers as urban customers, thus eligible for the lower charge. This change applies to 3,000 of a total domestic customer base of 1.5 million.
The review was initiated by ESB who consulted the Commission for Energy Regulation and informed it of the company's intention to rebate customers. The last review was undertaken in 1998 and the refund was calculated on the basis of the current difference between the urban and rural standing charges which isapproximately €5 per billing period (every two months) or €30 per year. Calculating from 1998 (6 years) to the present day, (€30 x 6 = €180) ESB rounded this figure off to €300. Affected customers are already receiving the rebate.
Some useful information:
|
Standing Charges 2004: |
Urban €6.88 |
Rural €11.76 |
|
Standing Charges 1998: |
Urban €5.02 |
Rural €8.57 |
As members will recall, the committee was concerned at several charges and the discrepancies between them. I am sure that we will be discussing this with the ESB in January.