Business facing electricity price hike
Businesses are facing average electricity price increases of 8% from the start of next year, it emerged today.
The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has authorised the ESB to impose the increase in the light of the spiralling cost of the oil and gas used to manufacture electricity.
It said it accepted that for many large businesses, the increase in their bills would be more than 8%.
“However for other customers, the increase will be less than the published rates.”
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said the 8% increase referred only to ESB customers, even though many large industries did not buy their electricity from the company.
“The regulator failed to highlight that for some high electricity users, increases of between 15% and 19% may be expected. This coupled with an average 25% rise in gas tariffs considerably undermines the competitiveness of Irish business,” said director of enterprise Brendan Butler.
He said electricity costs for business were now 51% more expensive than in Britain and 31% above the EU average.
“With Ireland’s cost base totally out of line with its trading partners and 500 industrial jobs being lost every month, manufacturing in Ireland is at serious risk,” he said.
The increase will come into effect on January 1, 2006.
