He told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change that the ESB expects that at the end of the year, overall demand will be down by between 4% and 5%.
Next year it expects a further cut of 1% to 3% - with demand picking up the following year.
Mr Byrne said work is continuing on the electricity interconnector to Britain, with cables to be laid under the Irish Sea in 2012. He also said there was a case for another interconnector - either to Britain or France.



















