Row brewing over €70m going spare from PSO levy

A MAJOR political row is brewing over the future of a €70m levy imposed on electricity consumers for two defunct power stations in Shannonbridge and Lanesboro.

In 2011, an application was made by the Government to the European Commission to be allowed to place a public service obligation (PSO) levy on customers to finance the cofiring of the Midlands peatburning power stations so they could also burn biomass.

This was supposed to continue until 2027, but the decision to close the plants means the arrangement will now cease in 2020.

Already, avaricious eyes are being cast upon the ‘spare’ €70m. The first shot has been fired by Fine Gael senator Michelle Mulherin, who asked: ‘Will there now be a reduction in people’s electricity bills, or will the Government just pocket the savings?’

The senator suggested that as part of the ‘just transition’ from a carbon-intensive economy, ‘one of the obvious ways to do this is by helping to retrofit houses’.

Most of the money from the levy, she said, ‘goes to Bord na Móna and the ESB, but perhaps it can be redirected to reduce the numbers on the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) waiting list.’

However, Midlands TD Barry Cowen has already weighed in with the warning that ‘these monies were allocated to the Midlands and they should stay in the Midlands’. The Fianna Fáil finance spokesman said the public ‘expect to see sustained substantial investment that offers more to communities than odd jobs and drainage clearances’.