Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to incentivise the use of self-generation by individual householders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20991/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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In line with the Programme for Government commitment, my Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) are finalising a cost benefit analysis of a feed-in tariff programme for microgeneration. I expect their assessment to be submitted to me shortly. A microgeneration programme must be fully cost effective taking into account the overall cost implications for all electricity consumers.

ESB Electric Ireland is currently the only electricity supplier in the market offering microgeneration tariffs to domestic customers who generate up to 11 kilowatts.

ESB Networks agreed in 2009 to provide the necessary import/export metering to the first four thousand domestic microgeneration customers. ESB Networks also provides a support payment of 10 cents per kilowatt hour for those eligible customers for the first 3000 kilowatt hours exported back to the grid annually for a period of 5 years.

The take-up of 364 customers has been disappointingly low despite potential overall tariff rate of 19 cent per kilowatt hour being available. This tariff is very significantly above the Single Electricity Market wholesale electricity price, which currently averages 7 to 8 cent per kilowatt hour.

The SEAI is in the second year of a microgeneration pilot scheme that entails close monitoring of the performance of the 42 installations taking part. Those participating in the pilot have been able to avail of the tariffs offered. The findings from SEAI's pilot scheme are providing useful data which will inform the overall assessment of the optimum way forward to encourage the microgeneration sector.