Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The underlying principle, and primary advantage of microgeneration, is self-consumption of your own electricity. This is how microgeneration can help consumers shield against electricity costs. While there is potential for payment for any excess electricity, export is an additional benefit. Maximising consumption will also shorten the payback period for their investment.Responsibility for the regulation of the Electricity market is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) which is an independent regulator accountable to a committee of the Oireachtas. The CRU published a decision for the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) tariff in December 2021, which outlines arrangements for implementation of the tariff, including eligibility criteria and remuneration methodology. As part of this, the CRU decided that suppliers will set their individual CEG tariffs on a competitive market basis which must be reflective of the market, or wholesale, value of the electricity, in line with the requirements of Article 21(2)(d) of the recast Renewable Energy Directive. It is important to note that a key aspect of the eligibility criteria for the CEG is that microgenerators must meet the definition for ‘renewables self-consumers', as per the Renewable Energy Directive. This places a focus on generating electricity for one's own consumption and thereafter with an entitlement to receive remuneration for excess electricity fed into the grid.

This remuneration is different to the retail electricity market and the prices a domestic electricity consumer is charged by their supplier. Retail prices take account of the cost to purchase electricity on the wholesale market, while covering the operational costs of the company, as well as the network charges required for use of the electricity grid. As such, retail electricity prices and CEG remuneration tariffs cannot be compared on a like for like basis.

In budget 2022, the Minister for Finance announced an exemption from income taxes for remuneration from the CEG for domestic consumers, up to a maximum of €200 per annum; which is expected to cover the majority of annual remuneration from the CEG tariff in 2022.

CRU provides a dedicated email address for Oireachtas members, which enables them to raise questions on general energy regulatory matters to CRU at oireachtas@cru.ie for timely direct reply.