Regulation of retail energy markets is solely a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) since the enactment of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and subsequent legislation.
However, officials from my Department correspond with CRU on an ongoing basis to track developments in retail and wholesale energy markets including the effect of Government supports on arrears levels, among other indicators.
The CRU releases market monitoring data monthly to the Department inclusive of key items such as estimated annual bills for households and those number of households in payment arrears on their electricity and gas bills. The most recent of these releases includes the most up to date estimated annual bills and the latest available data on the number of customers in arrears. As arrears data operates with a two-month time lag due to the way suppliers report these figures to the CRU, the latest arrears data, which is available on the CRU website, is for September 2025. An update on the latest figures of customers currently in arrears is set out below:
|
Customers in Arrears
|
Number in Arrears
|
Volume of arrears
|
Number of disconnections
|
Arrears<90 days
|
|
Domestic Electricity
|
297,313
|
€ 461.92
|
373
|
187,307
|
|
Domestic Gas
|
179,576
|
€ 189.50
|
108
|
153,658
|
|
Non-Domestic Electricity
|
41,300
|
n/a
|
40
|
n/a
|
|
Non-Domestic Gas
|
5,931
|
n/a
|
8
|
n/a
|
The Deputy may wish to engage directly with CRU in relation to the matters raised. CRU provides a dedicated email address, oireachtas@cru.ie, for Oireachtas members which enables them to raise questions on general energy regulatory matters.
