Bord Gáis Energy is a utility that supplies gas and

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

and boiler services to customers in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. Bord Gáis Energy has been in operation in some form since 1976 and supplies over 750,000 customers with energy in Ireland. Since mid-2014 Bord Gáis Energy is also part of the British Centrica plc Group. Bord Gáis Energy has offices in Dublin and Cork as well as having boiler service technicians nationwide. Bord Gáis translates as "Gas Board", although is now a private company limited by shares and part of Centrica plc which also owns

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

History

Beginning in the early 2000s Ireland's state owned public utilities underwent a major reform, following the creation of the Commission for Energy Regulation. This was part of an effort at both Irish and European level to open up electricity and gas markets and end national monopolies through the separation of customer supply and transmission within public utilities. Bord Gáis Éireann was therefore obliged to open up to competition and allow other firms access to their gas network. As part of this effort Bord Gáis Éireann was split into two main business streams Transmission and Distribution and Energy Supply. The Gas Directive requires that, in the case of vertically integrated utilities such as Bord Gáis, the Transmission System Operator (TSO) and the Distribution System Operator (DSO) functions to be legally and functionally unbundled from activities not related to these functions, although a combined DSO/TSO is permissible. Therefore, a new independent subsidiary, Gaslink, has been established to fulfil the functions of the Irish TSO and DSO and will gradually take over much of the operations of gas Networks Ireland.

Deregulation of the Irish electricity market

On 18 February 2009, Bord Gáis Energy entered the residential market, joining

Airtricity SSE Airtricity (previously Eirtricity) is an energy company founded in Ireland in 1997, and now a subsidiary SSE plc. SSE Airtricity supplies and distributes electricity and gas to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. History The com ...

and ESB Customer Supply. The market was deregulated in 2007.

Sale of Bord Gáis Energy

A condition of the EU/IMF bailout programme for Ireland required the Irish government to sell off some state owned assets to help pay down loans and reduce Ireland's debt burden. In February 2012 it was announced by the Irish government announced it would sell Bord Gáis Energy as required under the bailout terms. In March 2014 Bord Gáis Éireann confirmed it would sell its customer supply arm Bord Gáis Energy to a consortium made up of Centrica, Brookfield Renewable Energy and iCON Infrastructure to the value of €1.1 billion. The sale involved the splitting of the group's retail unit among the three buyers. The main retail division would be bought by Centrica, while its wind assets under SWS would be acquired by Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners and iCON infrastructure acquiring Northern Ireland based Firmus Energy. Bord Gáis Éireann was subsequently renamed

Ervia Ervia, previously known as Bord Gáis or Bord Gáis Éireann (; meaning "Gas Board of Ireland"), is a multi-utility company distributing pipeline natural gas, water services and dark fibre services in Ireland. The state-owned company has built a ...

. Today Bord Gáis Energy is a private limited company that is part of the Centrica Group and no longer associated in any way with Ervia or any of its subsidiaries (Irish Water or Gas Networks Ireland).

Sponsorships

BGE has a number of sponsorship programmes including the

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (originally the Grand Canal Theatre) is a performing arts venue, located in the Docklands of Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's largest fixed-seat theatre. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind for the DDDA, built by ...

, Bord Gáis Energy Book Club and

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

, Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards and the Bord Gáis Energy GAA U21 All Ireland U21 Hurling Championship.

Services

Bord Gáis Energy is predominantly a supply company, but also offer a range of gas boiler maintenance services to customers.

References