This release combines metered electricity and gas consumption with residential and non-residential electricity and gas final consumption prices.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The prices used in this release were collected by SEAI under Regulation (EU) 2016/1952.
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.
Weighted average prices are reported twice a year to Eurostat by SEAI.
Three types of prices are reported:
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.
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.
The figures are subject to revision.
This release will be published on an annual basis.
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