ESB wants more flexibility on prices

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

ESB chairman Tadhg O'Donoghue has said the ESB would like to reduce electricity prices by 5-10% next year.

The reduction is being attributed to significantly lower gas prices.

Speaking at the publication of the ESB's annual report, he complained about the system used by the energy regulator to set electricity prices.

Mr O'Donoghue said the regulator should set a maximum price, which would allow companies to charge lower prices.

The Commission for Energy Regulation said it was not possible yet to say what the new electricity tariffs would be, but it anticipated that there would be a reduction in electricity prices.

The new tariffs will apply from next November. The date has changed from January because of the new all-island market single electricity market (SEM).

The CIR said it had no plans to allow ESB the flexibility it wanted because of its dominance in the market.

Today, the ESB announced profits of €223m for 2006, down from €241m the previous year.

The figures released today also show a staff reduction of nearly 500, bringing the total employed by ESB to 7,800.

The company's capital expenditure for 2006 came to nearly €1 billion with continued investments in electricity networks, generation plant and customer service improvements.

The company also revealed that its pension fund is again operating within the acceptable zone for pension funds.

There was also an increase in the numbers of connected customers, with 105,127 connected in 2006 compared to 89,079 in the previous year.