Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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83. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to use powers under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to issue a policy direction to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities regarding energy supply markets and its resultant effect on prices for householders. [53129/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Section 10A of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, as amended, sets out the procedure under which I, as Minister, may give general policy directions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. The legislation sets out details on the tasks and inter-alia restrictions, timelines and consultation requirements with the independent regulator and Oireachtas.

Energy markets in Ireland operate within a European regulatory regime in which Member States must guarantee the independence of National Regulatory Authorities, which are expressively forbidden from taking direct instructions from government, or any public body. The regime also restricts policy directions in the form of general policy guidelines in certain areas that are prescribed regulatory duties and powers in the EU Third Energy Package.

Consistent with European energy policy, the electricity and gas markets in Ireland are commercial, liberalised, and competitive. The position of successive Governments has been that competitive energy markets result in greater choice for consumers and businesses, in terms of suppliers, products and prices. Competition exerts downward pressure on suppliers’ prices.

The regulation of retail market prices for electricity in Ireland ended in 2011 and for gas prices in 2014. The main thrust of Government policy on energy costs is focused on the competitive market and supports for energy efficiency. Government policy has supported competition to drive down prices, and data from approved price comparison sites (and ) shows that consumers can make significant savings by switching energy suppliers.

Recent announcements regarding electricity price increases largely reflect the pronounced increased in international natural gas prices over the last two years, with the average UK National Balancing Point day ahead price having risen by almost 50% year on year in October 2018, according to BGE Energy. Consistent with the upward international gas price trend, average wholesale electricity prices in Ireland have increased in like manner, and were more than 60% higher in October compared to 12 months earlier. The effect of this protracted rise in the wholesale electricity price over the last two years has also been observed in the retail market, with almost all Irish electricity suppliers having announced at least one household customer price increase during 2018.