Figures from the ESB on new connections indicate a record year for housing and building completions, with the company expected to have connected more than 90,000 new homes to the national grid by the end of this month.
The number of new electricity connections, which is used by the Department of the Environment and other agencies to help estimate the number of new houses, is up 16 per cent on last year and registers a record.
Last year it connected 77,000 new customers, with an estimated 70 per cent of those believed to be domestic connections.
As of early December it had connected 88,000 new customers, and the company said it expected to break the 90,000 figure before the end of next week.
An ESB spokesman said the rate of new connections was running at five times that of Britain, where 250,000 new meters have been connected this year.
The number of new connections back up predictions from the Government that 80,000 new homes will have been built in Ireland by the end of this year. Based on the ESB's figures, the number of new houses in the Republic should be in the region of 79,000.
A breakdown of new connections indicates that Co Cavan has the highest rate of new one-off housing in the State, with 1,000 homes being connected this year.
This compares with Co Cork, the largest county in the State, with nearly five times Cavan's population, where 350 new single house connections were made.
The lowest figure was recorded in Co Limerick, where 150 new houses were connected