33% fall in numbers of customers disconnected, says Electric Ireland

Electric Ireland — the retail arm of the ESB — has said that instances of it disconnecting supply to customers past due dates on their bills have fallen by 33% in the past two years and were down by over 400 in 2012.

Electric Ireland returned to profitability, last year, posting an operating profit of €33 million; compared to losses of €38m and €43m in 2011 and 2010.

The business also picked up 80,000 new customers — between electricity and gas services. While the duration of disconnections can vary wildly, overall customer supply ‘cut-off’ instances numbered 7,340 last year — roughly 0.5% of the company’s total customer base.