EA Ireland

What are Electricity Suppliers doing to protect customers?

Electricity and gas suppliers in Ireland have a lot of experience in dealing with Customers who are in financial hardship.  During the last Recession when domestic disconnections were running about 14,508/year in 2011[1] they collaborated to develop the Energy Engage Code that committed to never disconnect a customer that engages with them.  Since then the number of disconnections has fallen to 648 in 2021[2] . Similarly, since the beginning of this crisis suppliers have worked proactively to prevent disconnections and debt.

Throughout this volatile period the number of customers has remained steady[3] with arrears for domestic customers at 10% in Q2 2022 compared with 11% in Q1 2019.

Customer protection in the energy sector is always a high priority, the energy crisis affirmed that consumer welfare is the chief concern when creating policy. Electricity suppliers have Implemented a suite of emergency Government interventions as well as their own initiatives. The suite of interventions was achieved swiftly due to the established systems for introducing customer protections, as well as coordination between industry, the DECC (Department of Environment Climate and Communications), Revenue and the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland). This is a summary of what has been achieved this winter so far.

[1] https://www.cru.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cer12014.pdf

[2] https://www.cru.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/CRU2022973-Arrears-and-NPA-disconnection-update-H1-2022.pdf

[3] IBID.