Updated energy customer protection measures for winter issued by watchdog

A range of measures aimed at protecting consumers facing high gas and electricity prices this winter has been announced by the energy watchdog.

Among the protections announced is an extension of a moratorium on disconnections and greater flexibility for consumers in arrears.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) noted that wholesale electricity and gas prices have decreased this year but remain higher than their historic norms. It said it “would expect to see some movement on prices in the last quarter of this year” but pointed out that any reductions would not mean a return to pre-January 2021 rates.

“New enhanced measures were introduced last winter in the context of this extreme volatility in global energy prices, with the objective of enhancing protection for domestic electricity and gas customers during the 2022/23 winter period,” the CRU said.

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The regulator reviewed the protections after monitoring retail market data and considering feedback from customer representative groups, network operators and suppliers.

“The analysis showed that the enhanced customer protection measures have had a significant impact on protecting customers during winter 2022. As a result of this, many of the measures will remain in place until summer 2024, after which a further review will be carried out,” it said in a statement.

Debt repayment plans have been extended to allow a minimum of 24 months for customers to repay although account holders may chose to repay over a shorter period. The debt repayment level on Pay-As-You-Go meters will remain at 10 per cent, which means €20 of purchased energy credit can only have €2 deducted to pay the debt.

All customers with a financial hardship meter must be placed on the cheapest tariff available from their supplier and suppliers are required to actively promote the vulnerable customer register and the protections it offers.

The moratorium on disconnections for all domestic customers is already in place between mid-December and mid-January and was extended until February 28th this year. The moratorium for customers registered as being particularly vulnerable to winter disconnections was also extended last winter.

“The CRU market monitoring has shown a significant rise in numbers of customers in arrears as well as levels of debt,” the watchdog said.

The CRU noted that the moratorium on disconnections provided assistance to customers during the winter period but it expressed concern about an extended period during which suppliers were not contacting customers in debt. It said this may also have contributed to rising levels of arrears on energy bills.

In this context, the CRU will decide on the length of this winter’s general moratorium in September.

“The CRU is aware of the challenges that high energy prices and in some cases, bill arrears, continue to have on customers,” said the CRU’s director of customer policy and protection Karen Trant, who added that high costs and debt are likely to remain a challenge this winter.

“We are continuing to monitor the market, including price trends and levels of arrears and will determine timelines for the disconnection moratorium in the coming weeks.”