ESB ELECTRIC Ireland fired the first shots in what may be a sustained price war this morning with the introduction of a range of new tariffs that could see consumers knock as much as 17 per cent off their electricity bills.
The announcement comes on the first day the domestic electricity market is fully deregulated and the company claims it could save consumers about €190 a year.
The discounts will not extend, however, to more than 100,000 ESB customers who have fallen into arrears over the past 12 months. They will stay on the standard regulated rates.
A company spokesman rejected the suggestion that this unfairly targeted people already struggling to keep on top of their household bills.
“If they get themselves in good standing then we will look at that situation but there is a basic requirement that your account is in good order,” he said.
The company, which is rebranding itself as ESB Electric Ireland, has also entered the domestic gas market and is promising users who sign up for that service discounted rates of up to 6 per cent on the regulated prices offered by Bord Gáis Energy.
New electricity customers paying by direct debit will qualify for a 12 per cent discount on current rates. If they sign up for online billing, a further discount of 2 per cent applies and they will get another 3 per cent off the unit price of electricity if they switch to the company’s gas offering.
Existing customers can benefit from discounts and someone with the company for more than 12 months with an account in good standing will get an 8 per cent discount under its new “rewards deal”.
Direct debit customers get a further 4 per cent discount and a 2 per cent discount applies to those who accept online billing. A 3 per cent discount on electricity kicks in if they switch to the company’s gas package.
The discounted rates will be available until March next year.
The company has lost about 800,000 customers to Bord Gáis Energy and Airtricity in just two years and has seen its electricity market share fall below 60 per cent.
It is still losing about 5,000 customers a week and the spokesman said today’s price move was primarily aimed at halting that decline.
ESB Electric Ireland general manager Liam Molloy said the company was “very aware of the financial pressure on customers in the current environment” and insisted that it was “determined to provide customers with the best choice, value and products in the Irish energy market”.
A price war might go some way to offsetting widely expected energy price increases arising from volatility on international markets.
