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Background Notes

The median residential electricity bill increased by 14% or €157 in 2021

Online ISSN: 2811-6070
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Introduction

This release combines metered electricity and gas consumption with residential and non-residential electricity and gas final consumption prices.

CSO Access to Microdata

The CSO obtained access to the meter microdata for statistical purposes only under the Statistics Act, 1993. The prices data were collected by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and weighted average prices are available on the Eurostat website.

Metered Electricity Consumption

The consumption data were received from the ESB Networks. It includes all connections to the mains electricity network. For this release, the CSO has excluded meters relating to public lighting and connections that are not metered. The data are expressed in kilowatt hours. A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power sustained over an hour.

Networked Gas Consumption

The consumption data were received from Gas Networks Ireland. It includes all connections to the mains gas network. For this release, the CSO excluded meters relating to power plants and large CHP plants. The data are gross calorific values expressed in kilowatt hours.

Coverage and Exclusions

The prices used in this release relate to final consumption. Hence the exclusion of power plants and large CHP plants. Meters with a consumption below 50 kilowatt-hours in a semester (January to June and July to December) have been excluded. Public lighting and connections that are not metered have been excluded from the electricity file.

Residential Customers

Residential customers in the electricity meter data are defined as tariff groups DG1 and DG2. However, these tariff groups include some non-residential customers such as farmers, small grocery shops, etc. In the gas meter data, residential customers were defined by Gas Networks Ireland. Some small non-domestic activity such as creches, residential homes, embassies, etc. are included as residential.

Legal Basis

The prices used in this release were collected by SEAI under Regulation (EU) 2016/1952.

Electricity and Gas Prices

The residential and non-residential electricity and gas prices are collected by SEAI from energy suppliers. The prices include all charges payable including network charges, meter rental, and standing charges. The prices exclude any rebates.

SEAI calculated national weighted prices for each consumption band for each six-month period and reported them to Eurostat.

A gigajoule (GJ) was defined as 277.8 kilowatt hours.

Household Electricity Consumption Bands

  • DA: Customers consuming less than 1000 kWh.
  • DB: Customers consuming 1000 kWh or more but less than 2500 kWh.
  • DC: Customers consuming 2500 kWh or more but less than 5000 kWh.
  • DD: Customers consuming 5000 kWh or more but less than 15000 kWh.
  • DE: Customers consuming 15000 kWh or more.

Final Non-Household Electricity Consumption Bands

  • IA: Customers consuming less than 20 MWh.
  • IB: Customers consuming 20 MWh or more but less than 500 MWh.
  • IC: Customers consuming 500 MWh or more but less than 2000 MWh.
  • ID: Customers consuming 2000 MWh or more but less than 20000 MWh.
  • IE: Customers consuming 20000 MWh or more but less than 70000 MWh.
  • IF: Customers consuming 70000 MWh or more but less than 150000 MWh.
  • IG: Customers consuming 150000 MWh or more.

Household Gas Consumption Bands

  • D1: Customers consuming less than 20 GJ.
  • D2: Customers consuming 20 GJ or more but less than 200 GJ.
  • D3: Customers consuming 200 GJ or more.

Final Non-Households Gas Sector Consumption Bands

  • I1: Customers consuming less than 1000 GJ.
  • I2: Customers consuming 1000 GJ or more but less than 10000 GJ.
  • I3: Customers consuming 10000 GJ or more but less than 100000 GJ.
  • I4: Customers consuming 100000 GJ or more but less than 1000000 GJ.
  • I5: Customers consuming 1000000 GJ or more but less than 4000000 GJ.
  • I6: Customers consuming 4000000 GJ or more.

Pricing Options

Weighted average prices are reported twice a year to Eurostat by SEAI.

Three types of prices are reported:

  • Level 1 prices: Prices excluding all taxes, fees, levies, and charges.
  • Level 2 prices: Prices excluding value added tax (VAT) and other recoverable taxes and levies.
  • Level 3 prices: Prices including all taxes and levies.

The Level 1 price includes only the energy and supply component and the network component.

The level 2 price includes the energy and supply component, the network component and taxes, fees, levies and charges considered as non-recoverable for final non-household customers. For household customers, the level 2 price level includes the energy and supply component, the network component and taxes, fees, levies, and charges but excludes VAT.

The level 3 price includes the energy and supply component, the network component, and all recoverable and non-recoverable taxes, fees, levies, and charges including VAT.

For estimating household bill costs, the CSO used the level 3 price which includes all taxes and levies including VAT. Level 2 prices were used by the CSO for non-household consumption.

Methodology

The consumption band in the prices data was used to combine the meter and prices files. The consumption for each meter was aggregated to a six-month period and classified to the appropriate consumption band in the prices files. The prices were then added to the meter datasets at meter level. Bill costs were calculated at meter level by multiplying the kilowatt-hours consumption figure by the appropriate weighted average national price.

Revisions

The figures are subject to revision.

Release Frequency

This release will be published on an annual basis.

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