ESB 'denies poorest cheapest tariff'

Ann FitzGerald, National Consumer Agency (NCA) chief executive, said she was greatly concerned that the new price plans appear to limit or exclude vulnerable consumers.

“We think it’s totally unacceptable for a state body to have an approach that precludes consumers who are in arrears from availing of all these products,” she said.

“You can’t preclude people from the competition that has come into the Irish market.

“The ESB offering is not fair for everybody and that’s not good enough from a state company.”

The ESB, rebranded as ESB Electric Ireland, is targeting the return of about 100,000 customers from Airtricity and Bord Gais in a new pricing plan to bring its share of the market up to the 60% mark.

It has set three rules for consumers to save up to 17% – based on the current cost of ESB electricity supply – on household bills.

Customers do not need 12 months clear of arrears on their accounts as long as arrears have been cleared; any debts must be cleared before an application will be considered; and the issue of arrears does not apply to social welfare recipients so long as they sign up for a special minimum payment and direct debit scheme.

An ESB spokesman refuted any suggestions it was discriminating against some of the worst off.

“We are going to be reasonable and sensible in the application of that,” he said.

The company also insisted the cheap tariff – based on customers using direct debit, online billing and signing up for both gas and electricity supply – was not closed to the over 70s or those on social welfare.

Dermot Jewell, Consumers’ Association chief, said the ESB wants to single out customers who cannot pay and will not pay.

“They are using it as a ’smart’, you might say, way to insist to these people that they now move to a direct debit. It’s not that easy to stop a direct debit,” he said.

“I got the impression that there are a number of people who used the ability to move, and they left debts behind them.

“If there are 100,000 or whatever number of people in arrears, they are in arrears arguably most of them because they have had two of the worst years of their lives which really should be borne in mind,” he said.

“It was somewhat unique.”

Mr Jewell called on the ESB to show some goodwill and acknowledge that consumers faithfully paid their bills for years when there was no option to switch supplier.

Richard Bruton, Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, said he was committed to targeting further savings for business and consumers in rent, legal fees and cashflow.

“It represents a major saving for hard-pressed consumers and a small but helpful stimulus for the economy in these difficult times,” he said.

Mr Bruton said the cheaper energy could save consumers €100m in total.

The NCA called for a review of the price plan and said it has written to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and ESB with questions over the availability of lower cost energy.

The agency also said it wanted to see an independent price comparison website, preferably set up by the CER, to allow consumers to judge for themselves which company to sign up with.

Martin Ferris, Sinn Féin spokesman for energy, called for people in arrears to get access to the cheaper tariffs.

“While the cut in electricity prices is certainly to be welcomed, I would also like to see that applied to

those 100,000 or so ESB customers currently in arrears.

“That would surely help to cut those arrears and to go a long way to helping those customers to address their financial difficulties.”