It seems loyalty counts for nothing these days

This week’s INM/Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

Two weeks ago in this column I wrote about a most frustrating telephone experience I had trying to get information from Electric Ireland about my electricity consumption.

Electric Ireland is also my gas supplier. On closer study of one of my gas bills I was metaphorically blown out of my mind. On my May 8 to August 31 bill I read that I used approximately 11 kilowatt hours of gas or the equivalent of approximately one cubic metre. The price of gas at the time was €0.09157 per kilowatt hour. That means my usage of gas cost me 11 x €0.09157, which works out at €1.007 Guess what my bill worked out at? Answer, €46.88.

The rest of the bill was made up of standing charge, carbon tax and Vat. And there was a nine cent credit for dual fuel/direct debit/online billing)

 

It works out that I  paid €4.26 for every kilowatt hour I used. And that is an astronomical price. But here’s the rub and it is an outstandingly painful rub.

 

If I had used more gas the price of the kilowatt hour would have decreased. In other words the more gas you use the cheaper the kilowatt hour becomes. 

Should it not be the other way round and an incentive given to customers to use less gas, or electricity for that matter? Surely we should be doing everything possible trying to wean people off using fossil fuels.

I feel somewhat silly being frugal in my use of gas knowing that if I turn on the heating for longer I’ll be paying less for the kilowatt hour.

At present Electric Ireland is charging 39.59 cent for a kilowatt hour of electricity and 13.424 cent for a kilowatt hour of gas.

My advice to everyone is to study their bills extremely carefully.

 

Why are these charges so high? And why were they increased at the worst possible time for users, who are being hammered with the effects of the wholesale energy prices. Why does the Government not temporarily reduce the standing charges during this time of soaring energy prices?

Personally I’d like to hear a grown up conversation about why these charges are so high. There is far more talk in the media  at present advising people to change from one supplier to another. I heard one expert saying some weeks ago on radio that you would want to be a moron not to swap and change your energy supplier. 

I know what he was saying but I can’t help thinking there is something silly about a system that allows this sort of swapping and changing to be beneficial. I would have thought there is a virtue or decency about loyalty and staying with your provider if they did a good job, and that suppliers would respect and cherish loyalty. These days it seems loyalty has no standing at all.

In these difficult times should the State not nationalise all gas and electricity producers?

And by the way, I strongly recommend  we all try our best to cut back on our energy consumption. Don’t fill the kettle to make one cup of tea, change to LED lighting, watch that immersion heater and less time under the shower.