Donegal County Council quells concern as public lighting contractor withdraws

Donegal County Council has moved to allay fears that the public could be left in the dark after the company responsible for the maintenance of street lighting confirmed its impending withdrawal from the Irish market.

Enerveo has notified the local authorities, including Donegal County Council, with which it has public lighting maintenance contracts of its intention to leave the market.

The news means that six employees in Donegal are to be made redundant in the coming weeks with the services of sub contractors also ceasing.

In March of this year, SSE reacquired Enerveo, a multi-disciplinary contracting business, from investment firm Aurelius Group.

In 2021, SSE had previously sold Enerveo, then known as SSE Contracting, to Aurelius. Since then Enerveo has found it challenging to operate as an independent business.

The business was consistently loss-making and its withdrawal from the Irish market in relation to street lighting maintenance is understood to be as part of strategic alignments which essentially see the company exit unprofitable projects.

“Enerveo remains committed to delivering the Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP) South West to retrofit public lights with energy efficient LED alternatives across five local authorities,” a spokesperson for Enerveo said.

“We are currently progressing a collective redundancy process and are consulting with staff across our depots in Ireland, exploring redeployment opportunities where possible.”

The spokesperson was unable to comment on future plans other than to confirm that they have “given notice” to local authorities.

In response to a query fro Donegal Live on the matter, a spokesperson for Donegal County Council said: “Donegal County Council is satisfied that it has relevant public lighting maintenance cover in place until a new contractor is appointed.”