Electricity prices look set to rise again after the ESB confirmed today it was in discussions with the energy regulator following the recent surge in oil prices.
ESB chairman Tadhg O'Donoghue
ESB chairman Tadhg O'Donoghue said the continuing rise of fuel prices was sending the cost of supplying electricity soaring.
Speaking at the launch of the ESB's annual report for 2004, Mr O'Donoghue said: "Fuel accounts for over 55 per cent of all energy generation costs, and 30 per cent of the overall cost of supplying consumers."
He confirmed the company was in talks with the energy regulator and that he expected a price rise of up to 9 per cent to be approved.
The ESB reported a 7 per cent rise in after-tax profits to €267 million which it said represented a 6.6 per cent return on group assets.
It said a record 90,600 new connections to ESB Networks last year and it renewed 16000 kilometres of its medium voltage network.
Independent Business Organisation, ISME warned that if the proposed price rise was approved many small businesses would have no option but to shut down.
ISME chief executive, Mark Fielding said: "It is almost beyond belief that on the day the ESB announced significant profits they had the audacity to seek an increase which would effectively hike electricity costs by more than 55 per cent over the last four years, over five times the rate of inflation."
Fine Gael's spokesman on communications & natural resources Bernard Durkan described the price rise request as a "joke".
Mr Dukan said: "This morning we were greeted by the news that the ESB had reported an increased profit of €267 million. ESB customers, who gave the company that handsome reward, may have momentarily expected lower bills as a result.
But he said "in the same breath the company has requested a 10% increase in the charges it levies on consumers.
"This is becoming a joke, and not a particularly good one. If agreed, this would be the fourth such increase since the 2002 General Election," he said.
Meanwhile on the issue of the ESB's pension deficit, Mr O'Donoghue assured current pensioners they have no cause for concern.
He said: "The assets of ESB's Pension fund are currently valued in excess of €2.8 billion. The fund has no immediate liquidity problems and is capable of meeting pensioners entitlements for decades ahead".
Mr O'Donoghue said the ESB had put in place the necessary infrastructure to facilitate full market opening but as yet no major competitor has entered the domestic market.