MARIE O’HALLORAN

The gas and electricity regulator will have its powers of enforcement enhanced to protect consumer interests, and increase financial sanctions against utilities that breach competition and market rules, under new legislation.

The Commission for Energy Regulation will also change its name to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities because its remit now includes the economic regulation of water, Minister for Energy Denis Naughten said.

Introducing the Energy Bill 2016, an updated version of the 2014 Energy (Miscellaneous Bill), Mr Naughten said the energy regulator was missing “an effective range of administrative sanctions below the ultimate measure of licence revocation”.

The legislation would give the regulator enhanced powers of investigation and “specifically permits the imposition of administrative sanctions, including financial penalties”.

The Bill would also change the definition of the all-island wholesale electricity market to allow both governments develop new market arrangements to comply with EU trading codes by the end of 2017.

Fibre-optic cable It would also give legal certainty to rights of access along the Galway-Mayo gas pipeline to allow the placing of fibre-optic cable to bring broadband infrastructure to the west.

Mr Naughten said the Bill would define “improper conduct” and allow for the appointment of inspectors to carry out investigations, giving them powers to search premises and vehicles, carry out examinations or inquiries and require the production of documents.

Penalties for breaches of energy market rules will increase for individuals from €50,000 to €250,000 and, for a corporate body, from €500,000 to 10 per cent of turnover.

Fianna Fáil natural resources spokesman Timmy Dooley warned of the dangers for Irish energy consumers of a British exit from the EU. He said "interconnection with Britain would leave Ireland vulnerable to any problems that might exist in terms of capacity within the British market".

Under these circumstances “the enhanced interconnection between Ireland and the EU could be extremely costly from Ireland’s perspective”.

He said Ireland had the EU’s third-highest prices and he warned that any planned retail energy bill cuts would be negated by October’s increase in the public-service obligation levy.