GAS AND electricity companies want tens of thousands of customers to pay for their energy use in advance as a way of reducing the spiralling number of disconnections.
There are currently 32,000 pre-paid gas meters and 22,000 pre-paid electricity meters in use. However, the companies want to see up to 25,000 extra pre-payment meters supplied to gas and electricity customers each year. The move would tackle "debt hopping" by customers, according to the ESB, Bord Gáis and other suppliers.
Pre-payment meters allow customers to top up their accounts at retail outlets, much in the same way as with pre-pay mobile phones.
With up to 2,500 energy customers a month having their supply disconnected for non-payment of bills, the companies, which are members of the Ibec Energy Providers Working Group, say it is time to tackle the "culture of indebtedness" fostered by current arrangements.
The energy industry is keen to replicate the mobile phone market, where two-thirds of users have pay-as-you-go accounts.
In a submission to the Commission for Energy Regulation, the group points out that one-third of electricity customers in the North, about 250,000 homes, use a pay- as-you-go meter.
It claims there is no stigma involved and fewer than half of these customers could be classified as "hard pressed".
The group is critical of the commission's proposal to cap the number of pre-payment meters to about 17,000 over a six-year period and says a truer indication of demand can be derived from the rate of disconnections.
"There is an urgent need to differentiate between those customers with a genuine difficulty who want to pay, and those customers who may play the system to avoid having to pay."
The commission has proposed that the cost of disconnection and reconnection, which stands at over €170 for the customer, be shared in future between the supplier and the customer.
The ESB says it "reluctantly" accepts this proposal. It says the plan unfairly burdens paying customers and involves potential new costs but is acceptable as an "emergency measure" for 12 months.
The ESB submission says prepayment "smart meters" need to be introduced as quickly as possible as the existing technology, known as budget controllers, is almost obsolete.
In its response, Bord Gáis says it is "unable to work" with the proposal to share the costs of disconnection between customers and utilities. It says it is regrettable that the commission is transferring what is a societal problem to commercial enterprises operating in a competitive market.
