BORD GÁIS Éireann will not carry out any disconnections over the coming month, the company’s chief executive, John Mullins, pledged yesterday.
“I can absolutely make it clear that I gave an instruction last week to the whole organisation that there will be no disconnections in electricity or gas until well into January,” said Mr Mullins at the opening of the company’s new €400 million electricity generating station at Whitegate in Co Cork.
Mr Mullins urged any families having difficulty paying their bills to contact the company.
“We will review what the weather is like at that point in time. We have been trying to drive this policy as the year has gone on, and we have offered pre-payment meters and you can then pay your bills over 18 months.
“We understand exactly what the country is going through at the moment. We are offering these at no charge for hardship cases out there.
“We will swap them out and you can go pay-as-you-go. There will be no disconnections between now and mid-January.”
Mr Mullins said the new gas-fired 445 megawatt power plant at Whitegate was hugely important to Bord Gáis in providing the backing for its retail electricity business which has acquired over 420,000 customers nationwide since the launch of its Big Switch campaign in 2009.
He pointed out that using a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine, the new plant, which occupies 15 acres of a 25 acre site, has an efficiency level of 58.5 per cent, making it the most efficient power station in Ireland with the capacity to provide electricity to some 445,000 homes. “This is one of the most efficient power plants in the world and it will be providing cheap electricity to Irish customers,” said Mr Mullins who pointed out the plant, which employs some 30 people, was one of the biggest construction projects, employing 800 people at peak. Bord Gáis chairwoman Rose Hynes said Whitegate was a tangible symbol of how the company had changed from a gas supply utility to a dual fuel provider and it would add significantly to Ireland’s security of energy supply while contributing to a cleaner environment.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said it was encouraging to see Bord Gáis developing electricity generating infrastructure in Ireland and building a balanced portfolio of electricity generation across both conventional and renewable technologies.
The development of Whitegate would help support the delivery of competitive and sustainable energy solutions to customers, said Mr Martin who noted the ESB had opened a €360 million 435 megawatt power generating station in nearby Aghada just six months ago.
“We are looking at a very significant energy hub now in the Whitegate-Aghada area of east Cork,” he added.