Electric Ireland: The company said 125,000 electricity customers were in arrears

Around 125,000 Electric Ireland customers are behind on their energy bill payments, executive director Pat Fenlon told an Oireachtas committee today.

Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action, Mr Fenlon said the number of people not paying their bills on time had risen to around 125,000 in the past month or two.

Prior to the implementation of Covid, he claimed that roughly 150,000 of their 1.1 million clients were late payers, but that number sharply decreased during the epidemic.

Fenlon stated that the business will continue to evaluate its €3 million hardship fund, which is available to help clients who are having trouble paying their payments.

He continued, "We will assess how we can assist clients over the winter time.

Three million euros more have lately been added to the hardship fund.

The previous €3 million fund was "spent up" over the previous 18 months, according to Fenlon, therefore we are now beginning with the new €3 million fund.

We'll keep an eye on that; St. Vincent De Paul (VDP) and the Money Advice Bureau are in charge of managing it directly (MABs). In order to track how that fund is being used, we will directly collaborate with VDP and MABs. We will also examine this as this winter develops in particular, he said.

The €3 million fund, according to Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell, "is a drop in the ocean" in light of ESB's €390 million profit for the first half of the year.

He advised taking the hardship fund's expansion into account.

If I'm being completely honest, I think it should be done right away," he continued.

Several TDs questioned the definition of a "vulnerable client" for the purposes of the disconnection moratorium this winter.

In contrast to individuals who are financially fragile, 'vulnerable customers' are those who are classified as such for health-related reasons, according to Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore.

The most vulnerable people, especially those who are financially fragile, will be numerous in the upcoming months, according to TD Brd Smith, who questioned Electric Ireland executives about what is being done to protect them.

What else could be done, she questioned, adding that the €3 million was "truly pittance."

According to Smith, businesses have a responsibility to let consumers know that they can register as vulnerable.

Customers who are vulnerable are encouraged, according to Electric Ireland, to let the business know.

Although Electric Ireland stated that they will "look at absolutely into the future," the committee was informed that customers are not contacted to in order to inform them of this.

9,000 Electric Ireland customers already have payment plans in place, according to Suzanne Ward, financial controller.

She stated that the moratorium on disconnections for disadvantaged clients for the winter is about to go into force and that the corporation works closely with St. Vincent De Paul.

The major electricity provider in the State is ESB's retail division, Electric Ireland. It serves 170,000 residential gas consumers and over 1.1 million residential electricity users.

This year, the energy supplier has announced three price increases. The most recent rise went into effect on October 1st and increased home gas and electricity costs by 37.5 and 26.7 percent, respectively.

In his testimony to the committee, Fenlon stated that the price hikes announced by Electric Ireland over the previous 18 months were "a direct result of the exceptional rises in worldwide wholesale gas prices."

"Given the magnitude of the increase in our costs, we have no alternative but to increase our pricing as we operate as a standalone energy supplier in the market," he said.

He told the committee that the significant increases in customers’ bills over the last year “have been driven by extraordinary and sustained increases in the wholesale price of electricity”.