The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has confirmed today that the PSO levy will increase from October as wholesale electrictiy prices have come down in recent months.
The new levy will be €3.23 - excluding VAT - a month.
The CRU sets the level of the PSO levy every year, and the period runs from October 1 until September 30. The levy was zero for the years 2023 and 2024 due to the extremely high wholesale prices at the time.
The CRU said the PSO levy is a key factor in enabling Ireland to meet its national targets in terms of the generation of electricity from renewables.
Under the PSO scheme, renewable energy operators are guaranteed a price for the electricity they produce. If the money they receive on the open market (the wholesale price) is below this guaranteed price, then the money raised from the PSO levy is used to top up the payment.
John Melvin, CRU Director of Wholesale Markets, said that while the previous two PSO years saw a PSO credit and zero payment being applied to customer bills, the PSO Levy's relationship with wholesale fuel costs means that this year renewable generators require much greater support under the Government schemes.
"The increase this year has been offset by the decision of the CRU last year to set the PSO Levy at zero, given the comparatively smaller payment that year to reduce the impact of these higher charges on customer's bills for the 2024/25 PSO year," he added.
Commenting on today's decision, Daragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie, said that every residential electricity customer is subject to the same charge, no matter how big or small their energy usage is.
"At the moment electricity bills are still around 70% to 80% above pre energy crisis levels and are among the highest in the EU. So although the levy is only just over €40 a year including VAT, it is adding to bills at a difficult time," he said.
