Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
171. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the category of Public Service Obligation customers for public lighting that is charged a PSO levy broken down by domestic, small commercial or medium, and high commercial category. [11359/22]
View answerThe Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy is charged to all electricity final customers in Ireland and is collected from customers by electricity suppliers. The PSO levy is a vital policy support for the development of renewable electricity and to enable Ireland reach national and EU renewable energy and climate targets. The money raised from the levy is paid, via suppliers, to qualifying generators eligible for support under a number of Government schemes including the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) and Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff (REFIT) schemes. The legal basis for the PSO levy and its method of calculation are set out in regulations made under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and the Public Service Obligations Order 2002 (S.I. 217 of 2002). Under this legislation, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is responsible for the calculation of the levy each year and ensuring that the scheme is administered appropriately and efficiently.
The PSO levy is allocated annually across three categories of electricity customer based on the maximum demand in respect of each category, as a proportion of the sum of the three maximum demand figures. The attribution of the maximum demand in respect of each category of electricity account is carried out by ESB Networks for each PSO year.
The three customer categories are defined as:
- Domestic Accounts;
- Small Accounts
- Medium-Large Accounts (30kVA, including Public Lighting)
The ESBN’s PSO Allocation Methodology is published on the CRU website and can be accessed using the link below:
www.cru.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CER17074-ESBN-Update-to-PSO-Allocation-Methodology_v1.3.pdf .
