Electric Ireland () is an Irish utility company that supplies electricity and gas to business and residential customers in Ireland. It is the supply division of
the Electricity Supply Board, the former monopoly electricity company in Ireland. The company now operates in an open market competing for the supply of retail electricity to residential customers. Electric Ireland sells a variety of smart technology, including Electric Vehicle Home Chargers, solar PV panels, battery storage, which are also sold by Electric Ireland's online shop. Other major suppliers include
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 comp ...
and, more recently,
Bord Gáis Energy
Bord Gáis Energy is a utility company that supplies gas and electricity and boiler services to customers in Ireland. Bord Gáis Energy has been in operation in some form since 1976 and supplies over 750,000 customers with energy in Ireland. Sin ...
.
The business was known previously as ESB Customer Supply and ESB Independent Energy before 4 April 2011. The brand was a transitional one; in January 2012, all references to ESB were dropped and it is simply known as Electric Ireland.
Regulation and pricing
As a part of the regulatory system, the company as the former monopoly must sell its electricity at a premium of 10% above market price in order to encourage new entrants to the market place. The company has been unable to compete with these new entrants. It has been announced that ESB Customer Supply must re-brand the entire supply operation and lose 40 per cent of its customers before it will be allowed to decide its own prices. Currently it is regulated by the
Commission for Energy Regulation
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU, ), formerly known as the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER, ), is Ireland's energy and water economic utility regulator.
Electricity regulation
The CRU licenses and monitors electricity gen ...
.
Low carbon economy
In April 2010, the company's renewable energy investment fund, ESB Novusmodus, joined the Climate Change Capital Private Equity Fund to pledge €5 million to support Cork-based company Nualight. Nualight are considered as part of the
low-carbon economy
A low-carbon economy (LCE) is an economy which absorbs as much greenhouse gas as it emits. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. There are many proven ...
due to their long lasting LEDs which are used in supermarkets in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Switzerland.
Partnerships and acquisitions
In May 2010, ESB announced a partnership with GT energy, to create Ireland's first
geothermal electricity
Geothermal power is electricity generation, electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation i ...
project.
In June 2010, ESB announced the acquisition of a wind farm project in South Wales which currently generates 34.5 MW.
Sponsorship
Electric Ireland has a number of sponsorship programmes including Darkness Into Light, with Pieta House, The GAA Minor Championships and The GAA Higher Education Championships.
References
External links
Electric Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esb Customer Supply
Electric power companies of the Republic of Ireland