CRU | Business Post

Department questioned decision to stop using households to subsidise big businesses

The Department of Enterprise admonished the state’s energy regulator after it scrapped a policy which overcharged consumers for 12 years

Overcharged ESB customers to be refunded after subsidising big firms’ energy bills

An ‘administrative error’ meant households were charged more than they should have been between 2010 and 2022

Dublin ban sees 21 new data centres planned outside city

Energy and technology companies are now looking to build data centres beyond the greater Dublin area following the moratorium on new developments there due to constraints on the energy grid

Department opposed regulator's plan to put tariff on big energy companies

Department of Enterprise was against now-scrapped plans proposed by Commission for Regulation of Utilities to reduce energy consumption this winter

Energy regulator decision scuppers 60% of planned gas plants

Single Energy Market committee rejected proposals to give more flexibility to capacity contracts if projects are held up by third-party delays

Climate & Environment

John Walsh: Somebody needs to take charge to keep the lights on

Ultimately no one is legally on the hook for the parlous state of Ireland’s energy system. It is time the government acted before our options run out

Soaring inflation puts ‘vital’ new gas-fired power plants at risk

Developers call on regulator to index-link payments with inflation while Eirgrid warns that the highest risk of blackouts is expected to occur between early January and mid-February

Major Kerry power station knocked out until next year as Ireland’s energy deficit worsens

Eirgrid said there has been a significant deterioration in Ireland’s power system adequacy since last year

ESB will act like a monopoly until watchdog and Eirgrid act – Cowen

Fianna Fáil TD’s comment comes after the ESB was reprimanded by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) and ordered to repay more than €760,500 after overcharging customers

Regulator drops plans to introduce €100m of new charges on energy-intensive firms

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities has decided not to introduce a suite of tariffs that would have affected about 2,000 energy-intensive firms

Shell withdrawal shows ‘urgent need’ for state action on offshore wind policy

The unexpected move by the multinational energy behemoth could damage Ireland’s ambition to achieve an 80 per cent cut in energy emissions

Today's headlines

South Dublin council to overturn data centre ban; CRU to set up offshore wind unit

The stories you need to read from today’s Business Post

Offshore wind division to be set up at energy regulator

Chair of Commission of Regulation of Utilities tells Oireachtas committee that delays in building new grid infrastructure and planning delays are threatening Ireland’s ability to deliver on climate targets

Households could get cash incentives to ‘Beat the Peak’ in new ESB energy-saving plan

Households will be incentivised to move some of their electricity usage outside peak hours to take pressure off national grid

Firms baulk at ‘worrying’ number of calls to cut power supply

Companies on demand-response contracts have seen calls to disconnect from grid soar this summer, when pressure on energy system should be lowest

IDA issues warning over Ireland’s ‘expensive and high-risk’ energy system

The state agency made the claim in an uncompromising submission to the energy regulator, while arguing that new plans to impose €100m emergency tariffs on large firms would undermine national competitiveness

Irish authorities were told gas flow could drop by 12% if Russia cuts supply to EU

Gazprom’s failure to bring the Nord Stream 1 pipeline back online last Friday has given rise to fears across Europe that a full-scale cut-off from Russian gas may already be underway

Contracted gas generators drop out of market, worsening projected power shortage

It comes as six data centres with a maximum power requirement of 677MW are to be connected to the electricity transmission grid this year

Sparks fly as EirGrid and CRU play the power blame game

The heads of the electricity grid operator and the energy regulator last week traded criticisms in Leinster House before an audience of deeply unimpressed politicians. Meanwhile, businesses scramble to draw up emergency plans to survive the winter

Stand-off over power supply crisis shows just how bad the situation is

Interventions being plotted to avoid the projected power deficit this winter go from bad to worse