The decision by Energy Regulator Mr Tom Reeves to approve an 8 per cent price rise for the ESB has been branded a "disgrace" by the small business lobby group, ISME.
ISME chief executive, Mr Mark Fielding, says increase represents a 38 per cent rise in electricity costs in the last three years, "a situation that is unnecessary, untenable and unsustainable from a business perspective".
Mr Fielding said: "Culpability for this situation rests squarely with the Energy Regulator who has overseen a situation where Irish electricity costs have gone from below the EU average to among the highest in a matter of 36 months, since inception of the Regulator."
He said: "This is a disastrous situation and seriously questions the role of the Regulator who has patently failed to deliver price reduction through competition but paradoxically has, in the process, increased costs and strengthened the position of the ESB who will continue to operate as a monopoly into the near future, even though the market is meant to be deregulated by 2005."
Mr Fielding said: "This is a worrying and sinister development from a small business perspective".
He called for a review of the position and role of the Energy Regulator which he said had "failed dismally, at a considerable cost to the business community".
On Friday Mr Reeves said he intended to approve a controversial 8 per cent rise in ESB prices due to the escalating cost of oil and other fossil fuels.
He said he would confirm his decision in early September, after studying submissions from interested parties, but the draft decision is unlikely to be reversed, according to most observers.