NATIONAL: Eamon Ryan confirms new charge to appear on electricity bills for all Irish households

ENERGY minister Eamon Ryan has announced there will be a “small charge” added onto electricity bills to pay for the government’s gas storage ship.

As Ireland is going to acquire a gas storage ship to meet future contingencies, Mr Ryan has announced that a “Stage-led” initiative on gas storage a few weeks after An Pleanála ruled out the development of a liquefied natural gas terminal at Shannon.

The standing charge could extend to electricity bills, and will be based on metered consumption. This means that domestic consumers won’t be as much as data centres and other industries.

The cost of the storage ship will be paid over a ten to 15 year period and Mr Ryan confirmed that it will be paid “through a small charge on either gas or electricity customers”.

However, an incremental cost could be in the range of 1.5% to 2.5% on customer bills, which would be in line with current norms of similar levies, such as the electricity PSO and NORA levy.