ESB Power Generation – they generate electricity obvioulsy! But they are limited to only generating 40% of the national supply.

The one that affects us all the most is ESB Customer Supply as they are the only providers of electricity in the domestic market so we all have pretty much no choice but be a customer of theirs.

Each of the above along with ESB International are actually separate companies. Despite being separate companies they are all semi-state companies as well which brings all the trappings that other semi-states bring when trying to negotiate wage agreements etc. However it was interesting to note that a spokesperson from the ESB on The Last Word sometime last week claimed that the record profits were as a result of the Energy Regulators pricing and that they would like to reduce costs to the consumer but they were not allowed to.

Regarding price differences in bills for some time our bill has been anywhere between €350 and €400 except for the last one which as luck would have it wasn’t estimated and was €260! A big difference.

Anyway I’m glad to have found this blog and I’m looking forward to checking in again soon!

It doesn’t make sense to me is all.

Our house has 5 people, always one in the house at least, and we weren’t too pleased with €300 for those two months.

My apartment has five people and we’ve spent like €70 on electricity since September for some reason.

And to sound a little bitter, I am sort of glad to hear that it’s not only me getting extortive bills – other friends I have raised this concern with have shown me their bills ( including my mum who has a large house to heat) and there is over €100 in the difference.

@Maxi – Fair play to those that can Maxi. I’m thinking of getting a donkey and a wheel if the bills get much higher.
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@Robert – First off – welcome and thanks for such a considered response.

I plead ignorance when it comes to how their pricing works. If it is run by a government appointed Regulator, all the more reason for the government to step in a realise that to restore some confidence from the work force is to show that there is no more favourable treatment for public sector workers. As one paper said at the weekend, we’re in a “war against recession” at the moment – the government don’t need any more fronts to fight.

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I can’t say I understand how the ESB can only supply 40% of the power if they supply such a huge percentage of both homes and businesses. And they also control their competitors pricing by charging for the lines don’t they?

My overall problem is that I feel like I have a gun held to my head when it comes to power supply – And I am suspicious about the breakdown of my own bill having record a months output and checking my meter and generally going al illiatary on my electricity usage. The difference between my calculation of units and theirs was over 450 units.

our last bill was €300, but there’s ALWAYS someone in the house and we had to use an awful lot of electric heating due to the chimney collapsing and all.

A few years back the Government thought it would be a great idea to introduce competition for the electricity supply here in Ireland. To do this they decided to fix the price of electricity and limit the amount of electricity the ESB can produce to 40% of the countries total.

The idea being that it competitors to the ESB could now enter market and charge the same or maybe just a little bit less then the ESB for a fixed time frame to compete and build up their business. Some of these competitors initially found it difficult and asked the Energy Regulator for little price increases here and there.

The end result is that since the deregulation of Irelands electrical supply and the various increases appointed by the Energy Regulator; the price of electricity in Ireland has increased over 90% since the the year 2001.

My last statistic could be a little off but if it is it’s not by much. A quick google threw up an article published in the Irish Examiner in 2005 where by that stage the increase had been 61% in 5 years from the year 2001.

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2005/12/31/story615098579.asp

Renewable energy is the way to go. Fit solar panels to your house, they cost a bit, but you’ll never get another bill from the ESB.
Some communities are even starting schemes to pitch in together and build wind powered generators to power every body.

Fuck them.