Electricity and gas

Electricity and gas charges are a substantial part of household bills but new suppliers have entered the market in recent years, driving competition.

The most common issues affecting consumers fall into six broad areas:

Switching provider
Getting a new connection
Setting up a new account
Loss of service
Billing
Changing you mind about switching supplier

Getting a new connection

If your home has not previously been connected to the electricity or gas network, then you will first need to apply to have a new connection installed. This involves having the physical wires and pipes brought to just outside your home by the relevant network operators - ESB Networks for electricity or Bord Gáis Networks for gas.

To get connected for the first time to the electricity network, you can:	To get connected for the first time to the gas network, you can:
A – contact ESB Networks, which is responsible for all connections to the electricity network.	A – contact Bord Gáis Networks, which is responsible for all connections to the gas network.
OR	OR
B – Sign up as a customer with any electricity supplier who will organise the connection to the network with ESB networks for you.	B – Sign up as a customer with any gas supplier who will organise the connection to the network with Bord Gáis networks for you.
You can contact ESB Networks directly on 1850 372 757 or find out more about getting connected to the electricity network.	You can contact Bord Gáis Networks directly on 1850 200 694 or email networksinfo@bge.ie or find out more about getting connected to the gas network.

Remember, ESB Networks and Bord Gáis networks will set up your connection to the electricity and gas networks, but in order to use the electricity and gas you must have a meter installed. To have a meter installed, you must sign up as a customer with one of the electricity or gas providers.

Get a full list of suppliers of both electricity and gas.

For internal electrical work, always use a registered electrical contractor. You can find one on the Register of Electrical Contractors of Ireland at www.reci.ie. For gas installations within your home, always use a Registered Gas Installer (RGI). You can find one on www.rgii.ie It is an offence for anyone other than an RGI to carry out work on the installation, repair, maintenance or servicing of domestic natural gas appliances and equipment.

Setting up a new account

If you have just bought a home or are about to start renting somewhere, the property may already be connected to the electricity and gas networks. If so, all you need to do is set up a new electricity or gas account.

If the previous owner or occupier has not closed the existing account, you may be able to transfer this account into your name. You may have to take a meter reading and, if possible, agree a date for transferring the account into your name with the person who lived there before you. Contact the electricity or gas supplier you want to use – they will tell you the status of any existing accounts and what you need to do.

Loss of supply/service

If you find your gas or electricity supply has suddenly stopped, check with your supplier or the network operator. There may be a fault in your area, like a power cut or maintenance, and your supplier or the network operator will explain the details to you.

Both ESB Networks and Bord Gáis Networks have a customer charter giving various service level guarantees for connections to the network and supply issues. You can get more details below:

View the ESB Networks Customer Charter

View the full Bord Gais Networks Customer Charter (pdf)

Billing

Your meter shows how much electricity or gas you use. Meter readers visit your home three to four times a year to read your meter. The rest of the time your usage is estimated.

This estimate is based on previous consumption, and any necessary adjustment is made when the next reading is obtained.

You can correct an estimated reading by giving your energy supplier the correct reading from your meter. Details of how to do this are included with your bill.

If a meter reader left their card saying you were not there when they called, you should follow any instructions on the card in order to submit your reading.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about billing or quality of service by your energy supplier you should complain to you energy supplier first. If you have a complaint about you connection you should complain to the network operator, either Board Gáis or ESB Networks.

If you are unhappy with the response you get you can take the complaint to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), which offers an independent complaint resolution service. However, you must complain to the energy company or network operator first, to give them a chance to fix the problem.

If you are still unhappy with any resolution proposed by CER, you are free to seek legal advice, or, where your claim would not exceed €2,000, you could consider taking a case through the Small Claims process in the District Court.

Changing you mind about switching

If you think you have rushed a decision to switch, or you simply change your mind, remember you have a seven day cooling-off period, so if you are not happy you can cancel your order to switch. If you have signed-up to a new supplier on your doorstep, we have details on your rights when buying on your doorstep