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The Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme III will be operated by electricity suppliers and ESB Networks.  The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has oversight of the scheme.  Electricity suppliers will be responsible for crediting each eligible domestic electricity customers' account with an amount of €137.61 excluding VAT. 

To comply with the Electricity Costs (Emergency Measures) Domestic Accounts Act 2023 Electricity Costs (Emergency Measures) Domestic Accounts Act 2023 - No. 29 of 2023 - House of the Oireachtas, the credits will be applied by electricity suppliers to all eligible domestic electricity account holders who are registered with an electricity supplier in the Republic of Ireland on the following dates:

29th November 2023  for December payment period.

20th December 2023 for January-February payment period.

28th February 2024 for March-April payment period. 

Registered customers with an MPRN (Meter Point Registration Number) classification of DG1 (urban domestic customers) or DG2 (rural domestic customers) on the dates above which are not identified as a low usage electricity account (with specific exceptions) will be  eligible.  The DG classification for your MPRN can be found on the front page of the electricity bill/statement that you receive from your electricity supplier.  ESB Networks will comply with its legislative obligations by providing the list of MPRNs registered to each supplier on the dates above and by providing €137.61 to the supplier for each MPRN on their list. 

ESB Networks will also flag the MPRNs that meet the criteria of "low usage" on each of the effective dates above, as defined in the Electricity Costs (Emergency Measures) Domestic Accounts Act 2023; note MPRNs that have export capacity registered with ESB Networks (eg micro-generation), are registered as vulnerable or have an ESB Networks Hardship Pay-As-You-Go meter operating in a pre-pay mode will not be flagged as "low Usage".  The customer of an MPRN that is flagged as "low usage" may not automatically receive a credit.

Electricity suppliers are responsible for ensuring that the customer registered to the MPRN is allocated the credit accordingly.

Any queries relating to the application of the credit to individual accounts should be raised with the electricity supplier which was registered to your MPRN on the dates above.  Further details can be found by browsing the website of your electriicity supplier. 

The CRU Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme Guidance | CRU.ie and the CRU frequently asked questions page contains useful information on how the scheme operates including information on eligibility criteria. 

ESB Networks would like to remind customers to be vigilant of fraudulent phishing attempts.  ESB Networks will never send you text messages, calls or emails with a link to a log in page to a website which asks you to share personal details such as bank details, one-time passcodes or personal information.  Please see Fraudulent Phishing Attempts for more information.