Regulator denies electricity charges will increase by 5%
The head of the Commission for Energy Regulation has denied reports that families are facing a 5% hike in electricity costs over the next five years.
His comments come in response to reports at the weekend that bills are set to rise because Eirgrid and ESB Networks want to increase spending to improve the network.
However, the chairperson of the CER said that the overall cost to families will not hit 5%.
Garrett Blaney said that bills will only increase by around 1%.
"It's not 5%," he said.
"No, what's important is the total impact on the bill, and that's less than 1%.
"Now the reason why it's so little, given that amount of investment going in, is because there's been a significant reduction in the cost of financing, so [because] Ireland's in a much better place today than it was five years ago, we've been able to hand that benefit back to consumers.
"We've also made judicious cuts on the various cost that have come in and we're demanding further efficiencies from the utilities."
