Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 February 2005
158 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed (details supplied); if he will respond to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6115/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of the statement in question. Liberalisation of the electricity market has proceeded on a phased basis since February 2000 under the regulatory oversight of the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, the independent regulator for gas and electricity, in accordance with the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. On 19 February this year the market opened fully to competition. This is over two years in advance of the July 2007 deadline set down in Directive 2003/54/EC on electricity.
All customers are now eligible to source their electricity from any licensed supplier and the entire market becomes contestable. Scope now exists for all customers, household and non-household alike, to seek out keener prices in the competitive market. Up to 19 February last, the partial opening of the market successfully broadened customer choice. The latest information available to me indicates that at the end of 2004, some 2,342 customers out of 13,500 eligible customers had switched supplier, not only from licensed suppliers other than the ESB but between new suppliers.
The "green" market has been fully liberalised since February 2000 and over 40,500 customers out of the whole electricity customer base have so far chosen "green" suppliers. The Department has itself changed to a "green" supplier, moving away from the ESB following a competitive process.
The switching between independent suppliers shows that customers are price-sensitive and quality-sensitive, and their having a choice of supplier is allowing them to make the decision on what best meets their needs. Over time, as suppliers target the domestic market, we expect to see those benefits extended to the domestic customer. As with any newly opening market, suppliers have initially concentrated on serving larger customers, not least because the market for larger customers was opened earlier.
There are currently six active independent suppliers in the retail market and the CER expects that they will initially have a greater interest in capturing large to medium sized customers. Activity in that segment of the market is strong, with 33% of total energy now being supplied by independents.
The quotation cited is no more than an observation on what has taken place in other member states. As with other electricity markets, and indeed utility markets, it is expected that the benefits of a fully liberalised market will flow through to the domestic customer over time.
Market opening, which involves the removal of barriers and putting in place the enabling systems and processes, is a major step towards making that happen because it facilitates and makes it easy and simple for customers to switch and for suppliers to enter the domestic market.
