Some electricity customers to get refund of over €300

Businesses and households will soon receive a welcome refund on their electricity bills. That’s after the Commission for Regulation of Utilities published a decision paper regarding calculations for the Public Service Obligation (PSO).

It means that there will be refunds of €311.51 for small commercial customers and €89.10 for domestic customers.

Customers in the medium/large commercial category will be subject to reimbursement of €37.82/kVA. This levy covers the period from 1st October this year to 30th September 2023.

The regulator calculated that due to “unprecedented and sustained high levels of wholesale electricity prices”, the levy for next year will be minus €491.25 million.

The CRU noted that this is the first time since the commencement of the scheme that a negative PSO of this magnitude has been calculated.

Aoife MacEvilly, chairperson of the CRU welcomed the decrease in the PSO levy, but said its inverse relationship with wholesale fuel costs means that customers will have already seen price increases by suppliers over the last number of months.

“We would encourage customers to renegotiate with their supplier or switch to a new provider where they could save over €300,” she added.

Meanwhile, electricity and gas suppliers continue to make massive profits. ESB-owned Electric Ireland yesterday increased residential electricity bills by 10.9 per cent and gas bills by 29.2 per cent.

This is the second Electric Ireland price hike this year, and the fourth since last year.

According to the CRU, the increase equates to €13.71 per month on the average residential electricity bill and €25.96 per month on the average residential gas bill.