Results 441-460 of 1,773 for speaker:Lynn Boylan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Was there any reduction in the wholesale cost percentage to customers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: But did they drop in line with everybody else in the EU?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: I will follow up on what Deputy Costello said. For people listening at home, the CRU has a role to protect consumers and to help them to reduce energy costs. There appears to be a very hand-off approach by the CRU. It does not seem to want to make direct interventions in the market. I listened to the discussion about the prepay tariffs. Across the water, there are capped default tariffs....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Why not have default tariffs? Why not regulate the costs that energy suppliers are charging to customers? That is a very direct intervention.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: However, we have the most expensive costs in the EU when it comes to wholesale prices.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: What is the position on the PSO levy by comparison with the levy in the North, where it is designed to ensure households pay a smaller contribution than businesses?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Did the CRU feed into the energy poverty strategy the last time around?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Is Ms MacEvilly concerned that it has been lapsed for the past three years and that there is no update on when we will get a new one? The review of the implementation of the energy poverty strategy was due last year but we have not had that either.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: We will not get very enthusiastic about the last questions. I have two questions on which to finish. I refer to the temporary gas generators. The idea of seven generators have been floated. Gas generators have a 25-year to 30-year life expectancy, based on revenue and the investment put into them for a return. We have been told they are temporary until we get the off-shore wind energy on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Sorry, I may not have been clear in my question. What is the exposure to the State, in the context of the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty, if the expected revenue of those gas suppliers diminishes? Under the Energy Charter Treaty, their profits and future profits are banked into the treaty. If there is a change in the policy framework that affects their future profits, the State is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: If it is decided that we do not want to rely on gas anymore and that we have a mix of fuel that is completely decarbonised.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: I can give an example in respect of the Dutch. In 2009, they had an issue because gas prices were very high so they invited in coal plants on a temporary basis to try to bring down the cost of energy to consumers. We then saw the Urgenda Foundation case, where the Dutch were told they were not doing enough to meet climate targets. They decided to phase out the two coal-fired power plants...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: On that basis, you could look at the Spanish position. They changed the tariffs they were paying to renewable energies. That was on the back of the financial crash. They are facing an €800 million compensation package because they changed the tariffs being offered to renewable energy. Again, I ask if a risk analysis has been carried out by the CRU for the provisions of the Energy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: There is also the question around guarantees of origin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: The Austrian system is quite good with regard to transparency and it is a model that could be used to make it much clearer to customers that what Ms MacEvilly explained is the case and not every molecule of energy is 100% green. If somebody is advertising 100% renewable energy, it is misleading.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: In Britain they found that drove down investment in renewable energy. That was a committee review of guarantees of origin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: Going back to the document the CRU provided regarding the breakdown of domestic electricity bills, the witnesses mentioned that much of the increase in costs is down to international prices and the fact that we are at the end of a pipeline. I note from this that 70% of the costs fall under the remit of areas the CRU regulates such as wholesale and network costs. The witnesses mentioned...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: I move amendment No. 7: In page 4, line 32, to delete “domestic electricity accounts” and substitute “active domestic electricity accounts”. This amendment is linked to amendment No. 1. It substitutes the words "active domestic electricity accounts" for the words "domestic electricity accounts". This is tied to the proposal in amendment No. 1 to use the...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Feb 2022)

Lynn Boylan: I move amendment No. 8. In page 4, line 36, to delete “domestic electricity accounts” and substitute “active domestic electricity accounts”. I have spoken to this amendment, which is the same as amendment No. 7. It proposes to delete the words "domestic electricity accounts" and substitute the words "active domestic electricity accounts".