New Minister must convene meeting with CER as matter of urgency – Moynihan

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Michael Moynihan has called on Minister Alex White to immediately convene a meeting with the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) to discuss its performance in overseeing energy price increases of €450 per year.

He commented: “Today in the Dáil, I called on the new Minster for Communications to immediately convene a meeting with the CER to discuss its performance over the last two years. Gas price are up 35% and electricity prices are up 21% in that period. This calls into questioned the CER’s effectiveness in protecting the interests of householders and businesses. By any stretch of the imagination overseeing a combined increase of €450 in energy prices is not looking after the consumer.

“Unfortunately the previous Minister showed scant concern for the consumer, prices have sky-rocketed in two years and the CER has been complicit in helping companies like the ESB record huge profits as the number of disconnections continue to rise. In fact, 16,000 homes had their energy disconnected last year, while ESB made a profit of €415 million.

“The international market has seen wholesale electricity prices decrease over recent months yet electricity prices for household has seen no similar drop. This is not good enough and the effectiveness of the CER must be called into question.
“I am calling on Minister White to make it a priority to arrange a meeting with the CER and seek an explanation for its performance. Although the CER is an independent statutory body, they cannot be allowed to operate in isolation.”