Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am informed that on 31 May, Iberdrola announced that it would be exiting the market in a controlled exit. I understand that while the company is profitable globally, it was not profitable when it came to its Irish operations. The supplier of last resort protocol was introduced. That is managed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. The primary objective is to ensure that customers' electricity and gas supply is not interrupted. Under this, all customers of exiting suppliers are transferred to the standard tariff of that gas or electricity supplier. Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy as suppliers of last resort for electricity and gas, respectively, were directed by the CRU to take over the electricity and gas supply of Iberdrola customers. ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland transferred the customers to Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy with no interruption to power or gas supplies.

Customers will remain with the supplier of last resort until 31 August 2022. The customer will then be free to switch from 1 September 2022. However, once the transfer process is complete, customers can renegotiate the standard tariffs with Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy, both of which offer competitive rates. This is the same for business customers. The CRU has indicated that customers who were in the process of switching from their old supplier may need to check with their new supplier that the switch has been completed correctly. This is because when the customers are being moved from the existing supplier, any switches currently in process may be cancelled as part of the technical transfer to the supplier of last resort. The duration of term is determined by a number of factors, including the large volume of customers transferring, the requirement to purchase additional energy in the short term on the wholesale market and to allow adequate time to facilitate the registering of customers and the issuing of bills.

As Iberdrola made a commercial decision to exit the Irish market, it requested it be done through the supplier of last resort process as it was commercially unsustainable for it to continue to operate in Ireland. The timing of the decision taken by Iberdrola to leave the Irish market unfortunately left a limited window for its customers to switch supplier. While both Bord Gáis Energy and Electric Ireland will write to domestic customers within this period to offer them the opportunity to take a contract on discounted or improved rates, the key message to all customers is to contact Electric Ireland or Bord Gáis Energy once they have been transferred and have received communication from the new suppliers. If the customers do not wish to avail of the renegotiated rate, they can of course switch. The electricity and gas supplier handbook, which was recently updated by the CRU, states that the standard terms and conditions must include that a customer's personal information may be transferred to a supplier of last resort in the event of a direction from the CRU and any requirement which applies to customers in relation to safety or network-related activity.

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