Business electricity costs in Ireland
Switching supplier changes the price of each unit. It does nothing about how many units you use, or the charges that come from how you use them. That is where the larger, lasting savings are.
What is in a business electricity bill
Most Irish business bills combine these charges:
- Unit rates: the price per kWh, often split into day, night and peak rates
- Standing charge: a fixed daily charge, whatever you use
- PSO levy: a government levy collected through every bill, set each year by the regulator
- Network charges: the cost of the ESB Networks and EirGrid systems, passed through by your supplier
- Capacity charges: for larger connections, a charge based on your Maximum Import Capacity (MIC), whether you use it or not
- Reactive power charges: on larger connections, a charge when your power factor is low
- Electricity tax and VAT
The charges you can change without switching
- Consumption: every kWh you do not use saves the unit rate and the network charges with it
- Time of use: moving loads such as laundry, pre-cooling or water heating to night rates
- Maximum Import Capacity: if your MIC is set far above your real peak demand, it can often be reduced
- Reactive power: power factor correction can remove the charge altogether
- Peaks: spreading start-ups so equipment does not all switch on at once
Where to start
Look at a year of bills and your half-hourly data from ESB Networks. Compare night-time use with daytime use: a high overnight baseline is usually the first saving. Check whether reactive power or capacity charges appear on the bill.
Then measure the big loads directly. Circuit-level monitoring shows which equipment drives the bill and when, which turns a price problem into a list of actions.
Common questions
How can a business reduce its electricity bill in Ireland without switching supplier?
Use less, use it at cheaper times, and remove the avoidable charges. In practice: cut overnight and out-of-hours load, move flexible loads to night rates, correct a low power factor to remove reactive power charges, and review your Maximum Import Capacity if it is far above your real peak.
What is a Maximum Import Capacity charge?
On larger connections, part of the network charge is based on the capacity agreed with ESB Networks, your MIC, whether or not you use it. If the MIC is much higher than your measured peak demand, reducing it can lower your bill.
Why are business electricity prices in Ireland so high?
Wholesale prices, network costs and levies all play a part, and most are outside a business's control. Consumption and how you use power are within it, which is why reduction usually saves more over time than switching.
Want this applied to your building?
Start with an energy audit. If you spend over ten thousand euro a year on energy, the SEAI grant covers most of the cost.