Sir, – In “Renewable energy scheme costs families and businesses dear” (Business, March 2nd), Cantillon notes the cost to the electricity consumer from the public service obligation levy designed to support renewable energy.
It is disappointing that there was no room to note that, according to a 2019 report from energy analysts Baringa, Ireland’s wind farms delivered €2.3 billion in savings to the electricity consumer, well in excess of the cost of the PSO levy, over the last 20 years, nor that they saved approximately 33 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
In January of this year, the wholesale price of electricity on days when we were getting most of our power from wind was more than 30 per cent lower than on those days when we had to depend on gas.
The current energy crisis is the result entirely of our dependency on the imported fossil fuels that are driving up our bills and devastating our planet.
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Our families, communities and businesses will remain vulnerable to extreme electricity prices while we are forced to depend on imported fossil fuels.
The quicker we can build wind farms and reinforce the electricity grid, the more we can do to help consumers. – Yours, etc,
JUSTIN MORAN,
Director of External Affairs,
Wind Energy Ireland,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
