Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities

Mr. John Melvin:

There is a demand response industry that was referred to earlier. In this regard, a large hospital might even be regarded as small in the context of the electricity system. In this regard, these demand response entities are often called aggregators, because they can bring together entities that have an interest in doing this but would find the system too complex for them to engage indirectly. These aggregators are out there, involved in the industry, and they can offer these services. We have done a lot to try to stimulate that demand-side aggregator industry. In the context of actively looking to see if State entities participate in that industry, this may be part of the remit of the energy security emergency group, ESEG. I cannot say for certain.