Surprise at low number of small firms tapping Covid-19 utility bill suspension aid

Aoife MacEvilly, chairperson of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: "Certain businesses that have been required to suspend trading are focused on planning for reopening, but we believe that some of these customers could be missing out on reducing their energy costs during this period of inactivity."

Utilities watchdog, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, or CRU, said it is surprised that so few small business owners have applied for an energy supply suspension scheme and believes the take-up could be much higher to save businesses a lot of money.

The scheme, which has been in place since the start of May, works on the basis that the small firm will only get the rebate --which extends as long as the Covid-19 emergency measures are in place--from the date of the application, the regulator said.