Gas Prices Rise and Fall but Energy Bills never get Cheaper

People's memories are short in Ireland so now is a good time to remind them that gas prices rise and fall but energy bills never get cheaper. This is a quote from an Irish Independent article from 2015 :

 

 "Irish consumers pay the fourth-highest energy bills in Europe, according to EU statistics. Little of the large recent falls in wholesale gas and oil prices have been passed on to consumers".

The energy industry and politicians are now blaming high gas prices for the massive rise in electricity prices. In a properly functioning market, falls in wholesale prices would lead to lower bills. It has to work both ways. This clearly did not happen. 

The Great Electricity Rip-Off

 Joe Duffy's show on Friday did a great job of highlighting the expensive electricity bills that many people are facing now :

https://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/podcasts/

Irish Energy Blog, Wind Aware Ireland and The Academy of Engineers have all been proven right, we warned long ago that society would be locked into high energy costs for many years because of the mad rush for wind energy at all costs. 

http://irishenergyblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/irelands-defunct-energy-plans.html

http://irishenergyblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/whats-in-your-electricity-bill-part-5.html

And it's not just because of the PSO Levy, wind energy drives up all of the system costs of electricity, such as network costs (more here).

The impact from high energy bills during a freezing winter may have a worse impact than Covid-19. 

Higher Electricity Prices and Higher Emissions

What consumers were promised :

"We are introducing structural changes in the electricity sector that will create a more attractive investment climate for existing and new players, deliver increased competition, reduce the cost of electricity and offer greater choice for consumers” - Minister Dempsey, 2007

Electricity costs will fall in the longer term. The wind is going to be free forever and a day — there is no cost on that — the only cost is getting the technology in place - Minister Ryan, 2008.

DOUBLING the amount of wind energy on the national grid is key to preventing higher electricity bills in the future according to Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte, 2014

To date, developer-led onshore wind energy has been the most cost effective technology available to Ireland - Minister Ryan, 2020

What has happened in reality :

From 1st October 2020, electricity bills are to rise by almost €90 a year for more than one million customers. Electric Ireland will increase their prices by 3.4%, which will add €35 a year to the average bill, and PrepayPower will also be making a similar hike.

The PSO Levy will rise by 130% from about €38 to €88 per year. 

Electricity network operating costs and the cost of wind energy are the respective reasons cited for these hikes. Of course, the electricity network needs to be built out to facilitate more wind energy so this is an indirect cost of wind. 

And we are no better off as emissions have risen anyway :

Emissions from EPA 

I wont be advising you to switch energy supplier, the problem is a system problem, and switching just avoids us addressing the main issue here, which is our obsession with expensive and ineffective wind energy.