ELECTRICITY CUSTOMERS WILL receive a €89.10 payment toward their bills in the coming months, a welcome respite from rising energy costs. 

In line with a Public Service Obligation to subsidise renewable energy, electricity suppliers will be required to credit customers €12.73 for the remaining months of the 2022/2023 tariff period. 

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has said the payment will be made in seven instalments, either on customers’ bills or on their prepay meter, from 1 March.

Small commercial customers will receive a monthly payment of €44.50 beginning in March and ending in September 2023. Medium and large commercial customers will be paid based on their kVa usage.

The PSO levy is a mandatory charge to all electricity customers designed to fund renewable energy.

Wholesale electricity prices can drop due to falling gas prices. Renewable generators therefore need more funding to provide electricity to the wholesale market, as they do not use gas to run. This generally means customers have to pay a higher PSO levy on their bills so renewables can provide electricity to the market.

In other words, there is an inverse relationship between the cost of the levy and wholesale electricity prices.

Since energy prices have soared in the past year, the levy is not needed to support renewable generators. As the CRU explains, “currently wholesale electricity prices are high, due to the higher gas prices, meaning that renewable generators receive greater revenues for the electricity they sell in the wholesale market”. 

Customers do not need to do anything to claim the payment.

Commenting on the decision, CRU director of security of supply and wholesale, John Melvin said: “This measure was announced as part of the 2022/23 PSO Levy decision due to the unprecedented global wholesale gas prices that we have seen in 2021 and 2022.

“Given that this was the first time we have experienced a negative PSO levy amount, the PSO payments will come as an additional relief to all electricity customers over the coming months.”