Electricity market reform welcomed

The Competition Authority has welcomed the Government's proposals for reform of the electricity market as outlined in the Energy White Paper published this week.

It said the proposal for the ownership of the electricity transmission system to be transferred from the ESB to the independent State body Eirgrid was especially welcome.

Authority chairman Bill Prasifka said removing ownership of the transmission system from the ESB was "essential to bringing about real competition in electricity generation".

"Competition in electricity generation will only work if the electricity transmission network is separate from the ESB."

Mr Prasifka said the ESB remained the dominant force in electricity generation and in electricity supply to households in Ireland. It was not realistic to expect competition in this market to emerge if the ESB remained the dominant firm and the owner of an essential facility such as the transmission grid, he said.

The Government's plans for reform of the electricity market are unlikely to have any short-term effect on prices, which have risen over 12 per cent this year.

The Commission on Energy Regulation told an Oireachtas committee last week that prices would fall later this year, but only if the international price of fuel continued to drop.

Meanwhile, union leaders at ESB are to seek a meeting with Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey over his plans for the utility. The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) claimed the proposal was completely at odds with the social partnership agreement Towards 2016.

Davy Naughton, TEEU national industrial officer, said the plan appeared to breach a long-standing tripartite agreement between the Government, the ESB and unions that ownership of the grid would remain with the company.

Another union, the ATGWU, plans to launch its rival plans for the energy sector today.

In the UK, the House of Commons yesterday approved a draft order creating a single market for wholesale electricity on the island of Ireland, which will save consumers in the Republic over €60 million, it is claimed.