ESB charges will go up by an average of almost nine per cent, the Commission of Electricity Regulation (CER) announced today.
The increases are effective from the October/November billing period and will appear in bills some time during December of this year.
Domestic customers will face an increase of 8.9 per cent, while large businesses will face a 14 per cent increase. The cost for small businesses will increase by only 3 per cent, while ESB charges for medium businesses will rise by 13 per cent.
The CER was given legislative power to review the ESB charges in December 2000.
The CER also approved ESB £3 billion in operating cost, £200 million less than ESB had originally requested.
Despite the increases, electricity charges will remain approximately 10 per cent below the European average, according to a statement released by CER.
"Charges for domestic electricity are at present the third cheapest in Europe and approximately 18 per cent below the European average," the CER statement said.
"After this increase, they will still remain approximately 10 per cent below the European average."
CER also said if prices stayed at their present levels, new generators would not enter the market, and serious capacity concerns would arise.
"Over the past ten years, peak demand for electricity has been increasing by between 5-6 per cent per annum," said the statement. "To meet this growth additional generating capacity of between 150 - 200 MW per annum is required."