ESB customers from next year will have an opportunity to display their "green" credentials by agreeing to pay a small amount extra on their bills which will enable the to generate more power using renewable energy.
The move is a chance for individuals to help reduce "greenhouse gases", which the State is generating at unsustainable rates and are believed responsible for climate change.
The ESB is introducing the "green tariff" following the success of similar schemes abroad. It insisted yesterday, however, that its scheme to promote the use of renewable sources of electricity production, such as wind and hydro-energy, was more concrete and more binding than most.
Customers who opt for the tariff are guaranteed there will be an extra unit of electricity generated from renewable energy for every unit of electricity purchased under the scheme. This will be on top of the ESB's present commitment to renewable energy which all its customers domestic, commercial and industrial pay for.
The ESB has hydro-electric plants on the rivers Shannon, Erne, Liffey and Lee, and a wind farm in Co Donegal. It is part of a joint venture examining the possibility of setting-up a 200 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm at the Kish in the Irish Sea and involved in operating landfill gas power plants in Dublin and Cork. At present, 335 MW of power is generated from renewable energy sources out of a total output of about 4,400 MW.
The ESB is already purchasing the output of all private alternative renewable electricity generators. Power is purchased at premium prices from independent companies under a 15-year contract initiated in 1995 as part of a £350 million investment programme in renewable energy.
Initially, the green tariff will apply to domestic customers but companies may later qualify for a special green mark if they apply the tariff to their electricity bills. Customers will be able to indicate which portion of their bill will be subject to the green tariff. It is likely to be set at somewhere between 1p to 2p per kilowatt-hour.
If a customer agreed to a 100 per cent loading based on a 1p tariff, for example, it would work out at about £4 extra per month.
Independent confirmation of increased production from renewable energy will then be made available to those participating. Where such schemes have been introduced, between 1 per cent and 9 per cent of customers have participated.
Full details will be announced next year following the introduction of regulations governing the electricity market.
"The new tariff arrangements highlight the ESB's commitment to the development of renewable energy production, and to providing customers with a practical opportunity to contribute to a cleaner, greener environment," said the ESB's managing director of customer services, Mr Sean Wyse.
The ESB's "corporate response" to the "greenhouse gas" problem, and the need to help the State meet its commitments under the UN Kyoto agreement, is a separate issue, according to the board. It had been introducing technologies to reduce carbon-dioxide and other gas emissions from power stations. It had also made a significant shift from solid fuel/oil to gas use.
