People missing out on energy credits because they don’t use enough electricity, Dáil told

People are missing out on energy credits because they have not reached a certain threshold of electricity usage, the Dáil has been told.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said he was made aware of the situation by a number of elderly people who had contacted his Dún Laoghaire constituency office.

Mr Boyd Barrett said there was a provision that if a person didn’t reach a certain threshold of electricity usage they would not receive the €150 energy credit.

“I was quite shocked, elderly people came into me this week who made sure their electricity use did not reach the €150 threshold because they couldn’t afford to pay anything above it,” he said.

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“They assumed they would get the €150 credit so they kept their use just below €150 only to discover that because they had been economising their use of electricity, they weren’t getting the payment at all. That’s pretty terrible.

“When you look at how cold it is out there, people who are cutting back on the use of electricity to heat their homes, are now not getting the payment precisely because they were cutting back because they were afraid of the prospect of using too much electricity. And of course, you don’t get those credits, I think you don’t get a lot of other stuff as well.”

Mr Boyd Barrett called on the Government to “immediately address” the situation and that it was “grossly unfair”.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said she was not aware of the point raised by Mr Boyd Barrett and would refer it to the Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan.

Three energy credits for households of €150 each were announced in last October’s Budget, which were to be paid between the end of 2023 and April 2024.

A spokeswoman for Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan said the only qualification for receiving the credits is that electricity usage for a property must pass a low usage threshold check.

“This means that a property must have used at least 150kWh of electricity per quarter, for the four consecutive quarters between July 2022 and June 2023,” she said. “Just for comparison, the average annual electricity usage in a four-person household is 4,200kWh.

“You would be over the low usage threshold if you just had a fridge-freezer plugged in; boiled a kettle twice a day; and had one light bulb on for just two hours a day.”

The spokeswoman advised any household that has not been given the full credit should contact their provider in the first instance, and can then raise an objection with the CRU if required.

The spokesperson said that the low usage threshold check was introduced to avoid the electricity credits going to properties with extremely low or no electricity usage for extended periods, for example, houses that may be vacant.

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