Anyone opening an electricity bill in 2022 will notice a monumental price increase. The CSO revealed earlier this month that electricity prices had risen 22 per cent in a year, with several suppliers since announcing further increases.
The calls to accelerate the deployment of renewables at customer and utility scale are well made; this is the only option to free Ireland’s citizens from the tyranny of fossil(ised) markets. It is also the necessary step towards battling climate change.
Policymakers can protect citizens not only through installing solar panels but by reviewing the policy choices that shape the prices customers pay. Ireland is not completely the victim of international commodity markets; the inconvenient truth is that the effect of fossil fuels is compounded by local policy and regulatory decisions.
The data suggest a closer look is required. Latest figures from Eurostat show that Ireland has the fourth highest residential electricity prices in the EU. This cannot be explained away by international factors alone.
The price for trading dead dinosaurs to burn, or international wholesale energy prices, has been rising consistently since early 2021 and this naturally contributes to an increase in the prices householders and businesses pay.
SOURCE: (Irish Times) https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/time-to-take-responsibility-for-our-electricity-prices-1.4836048