Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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206. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the backlog in credit awarded to solar panel holders who contribute electricity to the grid and if he can comment on the issue. [51764/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity market is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) which is an independent Regulator, and was assigned responsibility for the regulation of the Irish electricity sector following the enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 and subsequent legislation. The key benefit of micro-generation is the money you save on your electricity bill by consuming some of your own power, especially as we see rising electricity bills as a result of the war in Ukraine.

I signed the Regulations that provide for the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) on the 15th February this year and since then the necessary implementation work has been completed by ESB Networks and suppliers, under the guidance of the CRU, to deliver this benefit to micro-generators.

The CRU published a decision on an interim enabling framework for the CEG which outlines the arrangements for its implementation, including eligibility criteria and remuneration methodology. As part of this, the CRU has decided that suppliers will set their individual CEG tariffs on a competitive market basis.

I am aware that while all suppliers have now advertised their rates, not all suppliers have made initial payments. The CRU has asked suppliers to communicate their decision to their customers on when initial CEG payments will be made at the earliest opportunity. However, it is important to note that microgenerators will not lose out, as payments will be backdated to the date of eligibility or the 15th February 2022 (the date the regulations were enacted), whichever is the latest.

The Deputy may wish to note that 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.