2 weeks Ago
It certainly wasn’t the most subtle suggestion. While thousands of houses are still without electricity, the ESB was warning that prices may need to be increased as a result of the devastation of Storm Éowyn. The tireless work in bad conditions of ESB workers on the ground, reconnecting hundreds of thousands of people with power, has rightfully been praised.
The solidarity, co-operation and assistance provided by their counterparts across Europe, coming to our country’s aid in a time of need, was heartening, welcome and inspirational. After record-breaking winds wreaked havoc across the country, the crews were out in appalling conditions to tackle a seemingly insurmountable challenge. A fortnight later, those same technicians are still out reconnecting homes, businesses and farms.
But there are homes that remain without power this weekend. ESB chief executive Paddy Hayes A sour note was attached to these efforts by ESB chief executive Paddy Hayes saying the severe weather event will most probably have knock-on effects for customers’ pockets next year. Mr Hayes said the full assessment of costs for customers will be looked at then.
“It’s likely that those charges which are allowed there will find their way back into the overall cost of our distribution network,” he said on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne . “There is a cost associated by this that will ultimately be borne across the electricity network as a whole. It is a devastating and destructive storm, the likes of which we have never seen before.
” Passing on the costs of the storm to the consumer is not a just response from a state-owned company Mr Hayes was probably being too honest for his own good. The predictable distancing by the Government has begun in earnest. Ministers rolled out to say these comments were inappropriate and called on the CEO to reflect.
Tánaiste Simon Harris joined in the hand-wringing by saying Mr Hayes’ comments were “extraordinarily insensitive”. Mr Harris said the ESB should have engaged with the Government – people were taken aback to have been left without electricity. Workers clearing a fallen tree on Grove Park Drive in Dublin after Storm Eowyn (Brian Lawless/PA) Yet at the same time, the Government is not ruling anything out on future price rises.
The buck-passing will involve saying increases are a matter for an independent quango, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Passing on the costs of the storm to the consumer is not a just response from a state-owned company. When the dust settles, the Coalition will need to clearly set out what it plans to do with funding for investment in utilities.
A failure to develop the network will act as a barrier to construction The problem is not isolated to repairs after a once-in-a-lifetime storm, it is about the expansion of vital infrastructure necessary for the development of our society and economy. This week, Davy Stockbrokers said Ireland will need to build 93,000 homes a year up to 2031 to meet the demand already present and in years to come from a growing population. All of these homes will need an electricity connection, and a failure to develop the network will act as a barrier to construction as big as any planning objections.
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