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I haven’ty much time to go through all this but if this is true.From Fine Gael.
Fine Gael Energy Spokesman Simon Coveney today (Thursday) accused Minister Eamon Ryan of performing a major u-turn on a key Programme for Government promise by announcing he is shelving proposals to transfer ownership of the electricity grid from the ESB to EirGrid by the end of the year.
“The Minister confirmed to me as recently as three weeks ago in response to a Parliamentary Question that there had been no departure from the commitment in the Energy White Paper and the Programme for Government to transfer ownership of the grid assets to EirGrid by the end of this year. He mentioned nothing of this u-turn in an 80-minute Dáil debate on energy and communications issues yesterday. Now this announcement on the last day of the Dáil, with no chance for debate, is a cynical manoeuvre of which his political masters in Fianna Fáil would be proud.
Then that is a big shame and a back track on the Greens previous stance. According to Coveney the reasons is the unions.
“The only explanation for this major reversal in policy by the Minister is the increased agitation by the ESB unions on the issue in recent weeks. In particular, the unions announced ten days ago that they would block the Minister’s smart metering plan unless he reversed his position on the grid ownership. I sincerely hope that this is not evidence that the Minister is prioritising his green agenda over crucial security of supply and price issues.
While the price issue might have more to do with government then unions If unions are the cause of blocking this well on there heads be it.
Just part of a larger trend sweeping Europe. Given the rebirth of Russia’s truculent foreign policy (like cutting off gas), EU governments are becoming more reluctant to privatise their energy companies lest the likes of Gazprom buy them up.
The transfer of ownership has little to do with privatisation in the short-term. It certainly has nothing to do with price or with competition. Even the Regulator admitted that were Eirgrid to become the ‘owner’ there would be no impact on prices. And since Eirgrid has been the de facto owner (insofar as it has been running the grid completely independently of ESB for the last 2/3 years), change of ownershp will have no impact on the day-to-day operation of the grid. Indeed, there may actually be a cost increase associated with the move since Eirgrid would have to buy in maintenance of the grid - and no one has investigated that thorny issue.
In truth it is hard to see the reasons for this transfer either than (a) it is a smokescreen to divert attention from the real problems in the sector, or (b) the fears of many trade unionists are valid, it is part of a long-term plan to, first, break-up the ESB and then, two, sell it off bit by bit.
Meanwhile, back on planet Ireland, the issues of the Regulator’s distortion of the market resulting in higher than necessary electricity prices, the move to renewable sources of energy, and the need to invest in new generation of plant remain on the agenda. If the Minister’s decision to ’shelve’ the transfer plans allows space for these other issues to come to the fore, then it will have been a good day’s work.