ESB reconnection = extortion

krautmick

Hi all,


so had the ESB connection to our old farm dwelling house disconnected some 17 years ago, as I did no want to be paying the standing charges for all these years and we had issues with people leeching power from the site.
I certainly did not realise, how expensive it would be go reconnect. The supply to the house is perfect, we might need to clear some branches, there is nothing that needs to be done (not my words, the ESB guy who did the site survey). There is only ONE thing that needs to be done, which is to relocate the meter from the inside of the building, to a box on the outside. That is it.


For this, we received a quote today for €3500!!!!!!!, which is madness.


To me, this is a complete abuse of a remaining monopoly position. How can I appeal this, or complain? Is there an ombudsman for this?

antix80

That seems reasonable.

screamer

They’re gonna get their 17 years standing charges one way or another. BTW, if you’re relocating your meter box you usually have to get an electrician who will supply a reci cert to do that. That’ll be additional to the 3500. There probably is an ombudsman maybe energy regulator, but I doubt it’ll go anywhere, they are a monopoly after all

ec_pc

Take a read of the ESB statement of charges :

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/docs/default-source/publications/approved-statement-of-charges-2020-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=224533f0_69

A standard connection is €2589 inc VAT, Enhanced connection is 3509. So are you getting a non standard connection? Read the statement of charges, it does provide some useful information.

You could always call ESB to discuss, from experience, they are very easy to deal with and are pragmatic.

Darc19

Are you 100% certain that everything is fine after 17 years of being left untouched.

No mice eating cable?

No degradation?

No hidden problems?


Now you may be lucky that everything is fine, but take another property which will have problems. Should ESB just turn it on and hope for the best?

I don't think so.

It's very clear what the charges are. And it would be similar for gas reconnection after 17 years.

A thorough safety audit is required and you will also have to get it certified


UK is up to £10,000, but average £2,000-£3,500

Calahonda52

krautmick wrote: »

Hi all,


so had the ESB connection to our old farm dwelling house disconnected some 17 years ago, as I did no want to be paying the standing charges for all these years and we had issues with people leeching power from the site.
I certainly did not realise, how expensive it would be go reconnect. The supply to the house is perfect, we might need to clear some branches, there is nothing that needs to be done (not my words, the ESB guy who did the site survey). There is only ONE thing that needs to be done, which is to relocate the meter from the inside of the building, to a box on the outside. That is it.


For this, we received a quote today for €3500!!!!!!!, which is madness.


To me, this is a complete abuse of a remaining monopoly position. How can I appeal this, or complain? Is there an ombudsman for this?

What did you expect: maybe ask the boss about the alternative?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129kuDCQtHs

iColdFusion

Yeah this is standard ESBN, pay up or make do without electricity, its even worse for new developments.

Funny how ESBN have a total monopoly, people are being forced to use heat pumps and electric cars, elec prices keep going up and by coincidence the Irish government own 95% of ESBN and get a share of the profits every year :rolleyes:

Darc19

iColdFusion wrote: »

Yeah this is standard ESBN, pay up or make do without electricity, its even worse for new developments.

Funny how ESBN have a total monopoly, people are being forced to use heat pumps and electric cars, elec prices keep going up and by coincidence the Irish government own 95% of ESBN and get a share of the profits every year :rolleyes:

Yes ESBN make a profit - a lot of their work is international. They also own Northern Ireland Networks and operate in many international markets and are leaders in consultancy for other international networks

But it would be impossible to introduce competition as you can't have two sets of electricity transmission lines criss-crossing the country. Even in the UK where everything seems to be privatised, there's no competition in the specific network areas.

ted1

Darc19 wrote: »

Yes ESBN make a profit - a lot of their work is international. They also own Northern Ireland Networks and operate in many international markets and are leaders in consultancy for other international networks

But it would be impossible to introduce competition as you can't have two sets of electricity transmission lines criss-crossing the country. Even in the UK where everything seems to be privatised, there's no competition in the specific network areas.

It’s ESBI (international) that operate internationally, as opposed to ESBN.

ted1

krautmick wrote: »

Hi all,


so had the ESB connection to our old farm dwelling house disconnected some 17 years ago, as I did no want to be paying the standing charges for all these years and we had issues with people leeching power from the site.
I certainly did not realise, how expensive it would be go reconnect. The supply to the house is perfect, we might need to clear some branches, there is nothing that needs to be done (not my words, the ESB guy who did the site survey). There is only ONE thing that needs to be done, which is to relocate the meter from the inside of the building, to a box on the outside. That is it.


For this, we received a quote today for €3500!!!!!!!, which is madness.


To me, this is a complete abuse of a remaining monopoly position. How can I appeal this, or complain? Is there an ombudsman for this?

How far is the house from the nearest line? (I.e how much cable have ESBN had to run get power to your house. ?

3500 is for an enhanced connection of 16 KVA, 12KVA would save you €1,000

billy_beckham

ted1 wrote: »

How far is the house from the nearest line? (I.e how much cable have ESBN had to run get power to your house. ?

Was previously connected as per opening post, cable already run.

ted1

billy_beckham wrote: »

Was previously connected as per opening post, cable already run.

It’s still a cost that had to be recouped. As it is off for so long it counts as a new connection.

Fees are here : https://www.esbnetworks.ie/docs/default-source/publications/approved-statement-of-charges-2020-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=224533f0_69

Sounds like it’s not up to code and can’t simply be re-energised.

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connection/reconnecting-supply

A site visit may be required to assess the situation. If no additional work is required to bring the connection point up to current standards, the house can be reconnected on payment of a re-energisation charge. However, if the connection point is not up to current standards it is treated as a new connection and a new connection charge applies. You will then be issued with a quotation as a fee is payable before your house can be reconnected.


Or he was talking to or asked for the wrong thing. Go back and as for a renerigisatio n fee

antoinolachtnai

The OP should certainly talk to ESBn and the CRU (www.cru.ie) to see if anything can be done.

The problems are that ESBn will likely justify the charge under the following headings:

- the OP may have left unpaid for ‘stranded assets’ behind in the upstream network when he disconnected. This cost had to be passed on to other customers and is now being recouped.

- The up-front costs of all the specific assets for the particular premises had to be met. Again, these were stranded when the connection was terminated and ESBn got no payment for them.

- the new connection is likely to be at a higher cost than the old connection in the sense that more upstream capacity will be allocated for new connections compared to what was allocated historically.

- the site sounds like it is remote. Every site visit entails a cost of hundreds of euros.

- the site may be troublesome from a security point of view according to your own account.

- this appears to be the result of applying a flat, averaged out charge. Thry won’t want to deviate from it unless there is a very good reason.

ESBn is a regulated business operated in accordance with special licences.

iColdFusion

Darc19 wrote: »

Yes ESBN make a profit - a lot of their work is international. They also own Northern Ireland Networks and operate in many international markets and are leaders in consultancy for other international networks

But it would be impossible to introduce competition as you can't have two sets of electricity transmission lines criss-crossing the country. Even in the UK where everything seems to be privatised, there's no competition in the specific network areas.

The big differences in the UK is that certain works to the power networks are open to competition from approved independent contractors so the utility company needs to remain competitive to win these works even in areas controlled by them and the UK utility companies are well organised and efficient, you make an application and it is dealt with professionally in good time and with a full breakdowns of timetables and costs, with the ESB it is completely down to whether the local engineer is bothered to give you a quote or not, they are a total disaster and mostly couldn't give less of a f#ck if your building ever gets connected or not but you can't say that because your next application will be even worse!

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

The OP should certainly talk to ESBn and the CRU (www.cru.ie) to see if anything can be done.

The problems are that ESBn will likely justify the charge under the following headings:

- the OP may have left unpaid for ‘stranded assets’ behind in the upstream network when he disconnected. This cost had to be passed on to other customers and is now being recouped.

- The up-front costs of all the specific assets for the particular premises had to be met. Again, these were stranded when the connection was terminated and ESBn got no payment for them.

- the new connection is likely to be at a higher cost than the old connection in the sense that more upstream capacity will be allocated for new connections compared to what was allocated historically.

- the site sounds like it is remote. Every site visit entails a cost of hundreds of euros.

- the site may be troublesome from a security point of view according to your own account.

- this appears to be the result of applying a flat, averaged out charge. Thry won’t want to deviate from it unless there is a very good reason.

ESBn is a regulated business operated in accordance with special licences.

Yeah the ESB always seem to casually ignore you are paying them to put in something that they then get to charge you to use but act like they are doing you a favour, its a complete win-win for them.

And in case anyone is wondering, yes all of the above is based on my personal experiences as an engineer in the construction industry!

ted1

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

The OP should certainly talk to ESBn and the CRU (www.cru.ie) to see if anything can be done.

The problems are that ESBn will likely justify the charge under the following headings:

- the OP may have left unpaid for ‘stranded assets’ behind in the upstream network when he disconnected. This cost had to be passed on to other customers and is now being recouped.

- The up-front costs of all the specific assets for the particular premises had to be met. Again, these were stranded when the connection was terminated and ESBn got no payment for them.

- the new connection is likely to be at a higher cost than the old connection in the sense that more upstream capacity will be allocated for new connections compared to what was allocated historically.

- the site sounds like it is remote. Every site visit entails a cost of hundreds of euros.

- the site may be troublesome from a security point of view according to your own account.

- this appears to be the result of applying a flat, averaged out charge. Thry won’t want to deviate from it unless there is a very good reason.

ESBn is a regulated business operated in accordance with special licences.

The price is listed in the document I posted earlier. These are the approved costs. Only question is. Does it meet the standard for a re energisation or is it a new connection?

antoinolachtnai

ted1 wrote: »

The price is listed in the document I posted earlier. These are the approved costs. Only question is. Does it meet the standard for a re energisation or is it a new connection?

After 17 years it is almost certainly going to be a new connection. But maybe something could be done.

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/new-connections/reconnection