Following a succession of overcharging incidents involving banks and telecoms firms, the ESB has written to 1,000 customers telling them they have been undercharged for years for their supply of electricity.
The company does not plan to reclaim the money from the customers and said an administrative error had caused the problem.
All 1.6 million electricity customers pay what is known as a "standing charge", which is similar to the line rental charge in the telecoms industry. However, for several years, the 1,000 customers have been paying the cheaper urban form of this charge, rather than the rural version. The cost to the ESB is understood to be minor.
From next month the customers will switch from the urban standing charge (€9.14) to the rural standing charge (€15.40), a difference of €6.26. However, a spokesman said last night the ESB would not be pursuing customers for the difference between the charges. "There is no retrospection element to this."
The letter sent to the customers this week says the standing charge relates to the operation and maintenance of the electricity network. The letter states: "In order to ensure that these charges are as cost reflective and equitable as possible there is a differential between urban and rural standing charges. This is because the cost of connecting to the network and maintaining supply in urban areas is lower than in rural locations."
The position of the 1,000 customers came to light during ESB preparations for the opening up of the electricity market. Before Christmas, the ESB admitted that 3,000 customers were overcharged for their standing charge. In that case, the 3,000 customers should have been paying the cheaper urban charge, rather than the rural charge and each customer was refunded €300.
In a separate development, a major review of urban and rural standing charges is under way following intervention by the energy regulator, Mr Tom Reeves. Mr Reeves wants to change the definition of what constitutes an urban or rural user. While it is too early to say what will result from this, it may lead to large numbers of customers moving from the more expensive rural charge to the urban charge.
