The Commissioner for Energy Regulation has told an Oireachtas committee that household electricity disconnections are running at 2,500 per month, equating to 80 per day.
Michael Tutty said the vast majority of cases were resolved with a mutually agreed payment arrangement between both sides. Mr Tutty defended the imposition of a disconnection fee of €86 and a reconnection fee of €88. He said this acted as an incentive for people to clear their bills and not let them accumulate.
He also defended the upcoming 4.9% increase in energy prices, adding that the perception that electricity prices had been increasing in recent years was not correct. Mr Tutty said there had been two reductions in electricity rates in 2009 and they had remained static since.
On price comparisons with Northern Ireland, the Commissioner said the higher costs in the Republic were accounted for by the 8.5 percentage point VAT difference between both jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, the executive chairman of Airtricity has called on the regulator to introduce legislation to stop customers in arrears from jumping between suppliers.
Mark Ennis told the Oireachtas Energy Committee that such a phenomenon served to compound consumer debt problems.
