An official inquiry may be needed to explain the high prices being charged to electricity customers, energy experts will tell an Oireachtas committee.
The experts from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) will tell the committee on Wednesday there is not enough information publicly available to show how the prices are justified.
An ESRI statement prepared for the meeting of the Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy says residential electricity prices doubled between 2018 and 2024.
“Irish electricity prices have fallen from their 2023 peak, but the decline has been less than in many other European countries. The exact reason is difficult to establish,” it says.
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It also says that since the energy crisis that followed the war in Ukraine, the gap has widened between the wholesale price electricity supply companies pay for power and the retail prices they charge to customers.
“This has occurred in many other European countries, but to a greater extent in Ireland,” it says. “Limited public data constrains understanding and may suggest a role for regulator inquiry.”
The regulator is the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which has a responsibility to monitor energy prices and ensure electricity suppliers engage in fair practices.
The CRU is not scheduled to attend the committee’s meeting on energy affordability but officials from the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy are.
Committee member Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly said in advance of the meeting he intended to query what information the CRU supplied them before October’s budget when energy credits to help with the cost of electricity bills were scrapped.
Data for August made public by the CRU in November showed the number of households in arrears had risen to record levels at the same time as new energy price increases were being announced.
Mr Daly said he wanted to know if the Government was aware of this when the budget was being finalised in October.
“If Government had these figures in advance of the budget, while energy prices were being hiked across the board, the decision to withdraw essential energy credits was deeply irresponsible,” he said.
The ESRI meanwhile will tell the committee that energy credits are a better way of reducing bills for struggling households than measures aimed at reducing prices, such as VAT cuts, which disproportionately benefit wealthier households that use more electricity.
But it said the best way is to create supports specifically for households in need rather than use universal measures.
It recommends supports such as “a targeted energy credit for eligible households, via a bespoke cheque or an electricity bill adjustment”. “This may require the co-operation of multiple government agencies and departments,” it said.
The meeting is also scheduled to hear from representatives of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Irish Rural Link, Friends of the Earth and EnergyCloud.
