Budget 2024 introduced a third Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme which over 2.2 million households have benefitted from - worth €450 in total per household. Through the three Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Schemes 2.2 million households have received €1,250 in on bill support.
Under Scheme III, usage levels were assessed to ensure that payments were withheld in relation to low usage electricity accounts identified by the distribution system operator, to prevent the payment from being applied to vacant houses.
ESB Networks identified accounts which consumed less than 150 kilowatt hours of electricity per quarter for four consecutive quarters between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. If a domestic electricity account identified by ESB Networks on the effective date in respect of each payment, was flagged as a low usage account, it was not allocated a payment for that payment period. The payment was not withheld for accounts with a financial hardship meter, accounts held by registered vulnerable customer or accounts which have low usage due to the exporting of energy to the grid through microgeneration.
The Scheme allows for review by a customer’s electricity supplier, if contacted by a customer who has not received the payment. The customer can seek further review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which has oversight of the Scheme, following the decision of the electricity supplier.
The CRU reports regularly on the implementation of the Scheme and has confirmed that, as of 26 August, 95% of domestic electricity customers have been credited with all three payments, with the majority of the remaining 5% being low usage accounts for whom the account holder did not contact the supplier, with approx. 91,000 accounts in this bracket. The CRU has allowed until 30 September 2024 for customer appeals to the CRU and for subsequent payments to customers. While the final report will not be received until January 2025, when the Scheme has fully ceased, an estimated €40 million has been saved over the course of the three payments.
