ESB customers face €60-a-year bill hike

ELECTRICITY bills will rise by at least €60 a year if ESB is given the go-ahead for its latest price hike. The State-owned company is seeking increases of at least 10% to offset soaring fuel costs.

ESB chairman Tadhg O'Donoghue said the company had hoped to ask for a modest rise, but with the price of oil and coal more than doubling in the past two years it had no choice but to raise prices for the third time in two years.

"It will be significant. Fuel alone would justify a price rise probably in double digits; certainly it is highly unlikely that single digits would help.

"To keep the ESB on a level field, that (a major price rise) is what we would need," Mr O'Donoghue said yesterday.

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern said the ESB must seek to reduce its cost base rather than going to the regulator for a price increase. However, he said a final decision on the increase was out of the Government's control.

The Consumer Association of Ireland (CAI) said there was no justification for the proposed hike as the ESB was a highly profitable company and could absorb its input cost increase by making itself more efficient.

CAI chief executive Dermott Jewell said: "We can't help but feel that this is a poorly thought out and knee-jerk reaction. What will be a sour note with consumers is that it comes in the wake of profits of €249 million for 2003.

"The rationale of the fuel crisis as a reason does not make sense. This is not going to be an everlasting crisis. This will put a huge burden on an already burdened consumer, and it shows a lack of awareness by the ESB."

Labour Party energy spokesman Tommy Broughan said the Government should forgo dividends from semi-state companies so consumers got a better deal.

The ESB 2003 annual report shows total turnover of €2.4 billion with €1.6bn of this coming from its Irish customer supply business. The company will also pay a €67m dividend to the Exchequer, an increase of €27m on the previous year.