Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Energy Prices: Discussion
Mr. Pat Fenlon:
There are four questions there. I will ask Mr. Vickers to answer the question about the increase in wholesale costs to €2 billion and I might ask Ms Ward to comment on the GDPR question. Network charges are regulated by the CRU. As one supplier in the market, we basically accept a regulated network charge as approved annually by the CRU and receive it on the same basis as every other supplier in the market.
Regarding the time period from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., that is one. We have three different offerings available. There is one with a peak rate, a shoulder rate and a lower rate off peak, there is one that has that 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. rate and there is one that has free electricity at the weekend on either Saturday or Sunday. It depends on someone's profile. The one with the low night rate might suit an e-car use or he or she could charge it at the weekend so it very much depends on individual circumstances. It is early days when it comes to the roll-out of smart metering. About 900,000 out of 2 million meters have been installed. Out of 400,000 of our customers, 70,000 are already on smart tariffs. This number is increasing on a daily basis. We will continue to evolve our offerings depending on what we learn from our customers and what does and does not appeal to them but there is a range available there that will suit some customers over others.