The ESB’s proposal that consumers cover Storm Éowyn’s damages has been deemed “extraordinarily insensitive” by the Tánaiste, reports Breaking News.
According to ESB CEO Paddy Hayes, the energy network will sustain “significant” damage from the exceptional storm, amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
Additionally, Mr. Hayes stated that consumers without electricity will continue to be billed for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) fee, which is used to finance network investments, reports Breaking News.
According to Simon Harris, a “slightly more sensitive approach” was required since the remarks were “extraordinarily insensitive.”
Additionally, Mr. Hayes stated that consumers without electricity will continue to be billed for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) fee, which is used to finance network investments, reports Breaking News.
According to Simon Harris, a “slightly more sensitive approach” was required since the remarks were “extraordinarily insensitive.”
He added: “We can have discussions about how best to invest – including the size of the ESB’s surplus, by the way, and the dividends and the resources available to the ESB – but when my constituents or certainly citizens in the country of which I’m Tanaiste haven’t had the lights on for two weeks, I’d appreciate a slightly more sensitive approach in relation to these matters. There are very big issues here that need to be addressed. We can’t continue to have a situation where we’re investing millions and millions of euro through the ESB and repairing lines when the trees are falling down on top of them,” reports Breaking News.
“We need to have a plan in terms of how we protect the ESB’s infrastructure. The cost of electricity is something that stresses people in this country. It worries people, and I don’t want any person to be worried about the cost of heating the home, cost of turning on the lights. And I also don’t want people, when they can’t turn on the lights, be hearing the response from the state agency in relation to the lights, saying we’re going to put up your bills,” reports Breaking News.
The ESB reports that 7,000 individuals are still without power, compared to a peak of almost 700,000 consumers.
Additionally, some people’s access to water was cut off due to outages at water treatment facilities.
Although nearly everyone now has electricity again, Mr. Harris stated that “it raises much more fundamental questions about preparedness for very severe weather events,” reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
