Households need standing charge relief during electricity outages – Scahill

Relief is needed for households and families across the west and wider north-west region who continue to face repeated and prolonged electricity outages, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Senator Gareth Scahill said while ESB Networks crews work tirelessly in dangerous conditions, the reality is that many rural communities are left without power for days at a time because of long-standing weaknesses in the electricity network.

“These outages are no longer rare or exceptional. They are becoming a pattern, and households are paying the price for a system that simply isn’t resilient enough,” he said.

He said that until the network is fully upgraded there must by some form of cost-relief for those who are left without a service or penalty for the network when they fail to deliver the service.

“A standing charge is supposed to cover the cost of providing a service. But if you have no electricity for days, should you really be paying it? Crediting back the standing charge during outages is a simple and fair solution which recognises that customers shouldn’t carry the cost of a system that isn’t delivering for them.”

A compensation scheme exists for prolonged outages which are not storm-related, and Senator Scahill said this no longer reflects reality.

“Most of the outages are weather-related. That’s the problem. The support that exists doesn’t apply to the very situations causing the most disruption.”

Under the ESB Network Repair Guarantee, the company aims to restore supply within four hours of an interruption. If a household is without power for more than 24 hours after ESB Networks has been told of a fault, domestic customers may claim €65, while it is €130 for a business, with an additional €35 for every 12-hour period without supply.

However, this guarantee does not apply in exceptional circumstances such as storms or widespread service disruption.

“ESB staff do extraordinary work in dangerous conditions, and none of this is a criticism,” said Senator Scahill. “But, for households who fall outside the scope of the existing compensation scheme, there needs to be a transparent mechanism to ensure they’re not paying for a service they’re not getting.”

Senator Scahill said that while long-term solutions such as improved forestry corridors and upgraded infrastructure are essential, households need immediate and practical support while those upgrades are carried out.

“People in rural Roscommon deserve the same reliability and security of supply as anywhere else in the country. Until the system is upgraded, we must ensure families are not left carrying the cost of systemic weaknesses.”