Electricity network tariffs provide essential funding required to operate, maintain and expand Ireland’s electricity grid to meet growing demand and ensure safe, secure and reliable supplies of electricity for every customer in Ireland.
Responsibility for the regulation of electricity network tariffs is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) which is an independent regulator, accountable to a Committee of the Oireachtas.
In line with Action 2.1 under the National Energy Demand Strategy, CRU restarted its independent review of the structure of electricity network tariffs in September 2025, after it was paused in 2022. The review will seek to put in place a framework for how network tariffs should be structured to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and best serve consumer interests now and into the future. As part of Phase 1 of the review, International Experience of Network Tariff Structure and Reform will be considered.
Government has recently published a comprehensive Large Energy User Action Plan (LEAP) with robust measures that will, inter alia, accelerate energy generation, connectivity, and planning processes which will guide the development of strategically significant very energy intensive industries, in alignment with Ireland’s decarbonisation objectives and growing the knowledge-based economy. In particular, this will allow for greater co-location of energy-intensive sectors with the supply of renewable energy generation within green energy parks. It will unlock investment and innovation in Ireland’s renewable energy sector, including offshore wind, create positive spillovers, and maximise the wider benefits in jobs and skills across Ireland’s regions.
Among the 17 actions, LEAP mandates CRU under Action 4, in-line with the National Energy Demand Strategy, to assess reforms and implement actions on network tariffs, day-ahead and inter-day wholesale market trading, grid code, storage and flexibility procurement (plus capacity markets if required), and set out a pathway to future implementation.
