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Power to the people — 7 Comments

  1. And, as long as we carry on paying regardless, they will carry on billing regardless.
    Simples tsk!

  2. Incredible … just another way of the establishment shafting the common man.  You put it so tactfully in the end … up the revolution .. not so – we’ve been conditioned to expect and so it’s hardly likely to happen

  3. Just a thought – Could one avoid paying carbon taxes on religious grounds?  i.e. A devout non-believer in global warming?

  4. Well put Zap. Doesn’t it just piss you off. They’ve got us paying a surcharge for a new nuclear power station before they even break ground on it. Nationalise the cunts I say.

  5. I’m sorry TheZAP, but your rant doesn’t make any sense. Except from the “Standing Charge Low Usage”  part – this is truly ridiculous. But otherwise, your reasoning, however entertaining, is entirely flawed.
    The comparison to Men’s Outfitters shop just shows where you miss the point: you go there, you buy your socks, nightcup and tuxedo and you leave. The cost of their rent, staff salaries and their income is included in the price of aformentioned garments. You are not connected to them all year round by a pneumatic pipe which has to be maintained and through which you can receive whatever you order at any time. 
    For the same reason the nice bit about forefathers doesn’t make sense either. They built all the shit, yes, but all the shit has to be maintained. By people who have to be paid. Who use petrol to travel to forgotten parts of Black Valley to fix a wire after another gale.
    So you keep your unused house connected to the grid and you expect this to be free? You want to be able to show up there and just have all the conveniences ready whenever you wish – for free? Sorry, that’s just not being able to understand the basics. 

  6. Jedzej,
     
    The salaries, travel costs and maintenance of the ESB are all added to the unit price of electricity and anticipated rising costs are added as needed. It is how the pay-as-use system works and ensures the the electricity is “always on”. Indeed, I heard an ESB official proudly claim one morning on radio, that they factor in a charge into the unit price for future developments. This is to ensure that money is available when needed and these funds are kept separate as capital investments. You see, the ESB is not supposed to make a profit per se. 
     
    To give you an example, there is the famous story of the single Telecoms operator here, back in the early 60’s. They had a need for capital for some large development and the head accountant was given the task of raising it. He came up with the brilliant idea of “Line Rental” and when the scam began, the charge was for one penny on each bill. It was a fabrication of course, but once in place, they decided to continue with it and kept putting it up also until today, it is a substantial figure.
     
    Today, the salary for the CEO of the ESB is over €400,000 a year and the Board are equally well paid. The workers are unionized and their salaries are guaranteed by the “Croke Park” agreement. A friend of mine who worked there was an alcoholic and the company repeatedly paid for drying out sessions for him at institutions around the country and paid somebody to do his job while he was away. Money like this comes from you, the customer. 
     
    The unit cost of electricity in Ireland is the second highest in Europe and I repeat, there is no need at all for an added standing charge other than greed and because they can get away with it. Many times in the past, the price has gone up as the oil price internationally rises, but it never comes back down again. This low usage charge is a cheeky bid to get even more money just in case. And I did mention that when I asked them about having the supply cut to the cottage, they told me it would be €79.00 and something similar to have it re-connected. This is a two minute job by a lineman who incidentally, is in the same town and only minutes away. 
    I suspect in Poland this kind of thing would bring the people onto the streets, but as Grandad often says, we Irish are Sheeple.
     

  7. “The unit cost of electricity in Ireland is the second highest in Europe”.
    This is true, all The ESB costs to produce, maintain, and repair are covered. It also includes future development, the procurement of new sites and technology.
    It also includes the massive salaries their top execs are on and the staff increases they get when all else are being laid off or having their salaries butchered.
    They have the best paid workforce in the country.
    Are we next expected to pay for their holidays in the sun, their kiddies birthday parties, their golf club memberships, their subs to internet porn,  the jax roll in their bogs?

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