Irish consumers facing energy price hikes on back of EU's proposed usage cut

Professor Lisa Ryan, Professor of energy economics at the UCD School of Economics, said the proposals focus on reducing gas over the period from August 1 until March. File picture

Irish consumers are likely to be indirectly impacted in the form of increased energy prices as a result of an EU proposal to cut energy usage by 15%.

Consumer experts have warned further energy price rises are likely as a result of the EU’s proposal for member states to cut gas use over the coming months should Russia cut-off natural gas supplies. While the initial cuts would be voluntary, the commission asked for the power to impose mandatory reductions in the event of an EU-wide alert. 

“There has been a lot of attention around the threat to supply and rationing, and I understand that,” said Darragh Cassidy, of Bonkers.ie. “People want to know if they’ll wake up and they can’t turn on the lights or heat their home. I think the biggest impact, where people will feel it, is in price. 

For this winter we are maybe not as exposed as the German economy is, but what we are not shielded from is astronomical gas prices.

We use gas to generate 40% of our electricity, he added. “So that will affect electricity prices as well. The threat of a shortage in supply is obviously there, it could happen, but it’s still theoretical. What absolutely will happen is that there will be more price increases.” 

Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European Affairs, said there will be an indirect impact in the form of increased energy prices. Mr Byrne told RTÉ that while Ireland was not going to claim “exceptionalism”, it was a fact that Ireland and some other European countries are simply not connected to the general European gas grid. 

“There's no doubt that we will have to look at gas supplies, while we're not directly connected to the Russian gas supply system, whatever happens on that pipeline."

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Householders fall into the category of protected customers. “Unfortunately all of this does indirectly affect you because it attracts price. It's possible of course that a reduction in demand will help reduce the price as well.”

Professor Lisa Ryan, Professor of energy economics at the UCD School of Economics, said the proposals focus on reducing gas over the period from August 1 until March. 

"It's very much aligned with our climate strategy as well because by improving our energy efficiency, we can reduce our gas demand," she said. 

Ireland has a high use of gas in the wintertime, she said. This could be reduced through small measures such as insulating homes or reducing thermostats by one degree. One larger measure proposed would see industry switch from gas boilers to wood pellet boilers.