After a five-year delay the national grid system will this weekend become the responsibility of a new State-owned company called EirGrid, rather than ESB.
A statutory instrument was introduced back in 2001 on the back of an EU directive to set up EirGrid as a separate entity from the ESB. But wrangling has been going on since then about transferring ESB staff to the new body. Staff were particularly concerned about their pension entitlements, but these issues have now been addressed.
Private sector electricity companies have been calling for the establishment of the new company for several years, but various attempts to address staff concerns failed. Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey has previously described the situation as unsatisfactory.
EirGrid will be run by managing director Dermot Byrne. Mr Byrne is an electrical engineer and has extensive senior management experience in the electricity industry, mostly with the ESB.
The company will have its own board of directors and a commercial mandate. It will act as the transmission system operator and, in time, it will have its own office space. It is currently housed in the ESB headquarters in Dublin city centre, but advisors have been hired to find a new premises.
EirGrid will have more than 200 staff. Some of them are former ESB workers, but more than 70 have been hired directly.
While the new company will have no links to the ESB, the national grid assets will remain in the ownership of the ESB. The Government has said repeatedly that it will never privatise these assets, although pressure is increasing to sell some of the ESB's 19 power stations.
The national grid is made up of more than 5,800km of high voltage lines and cables. While EirGrid will manage most of this, the final part of the system, the low voltage distribution lines, will remain the responsibility of ESB Networks.
The management of the national grid is a key concern to the independent electricity sector. While the grid's main responsibility is to ensure that supply and demand is balanced throughout the electricity system, it also has a role in the sale of wholesale electricity between different companies, and also in the importing of power via the North-South interconnector.
While politicians have grown increasingly frustrated by the delays in setting up EirGrid,progress was made recently when the ESB board approved a transfer scheme for ESB staff moving to EirGrid.
A subcommittee was also set up to work out the details of the transfer of staff.
The new body is not likely to be acquiring any further assets, although it will become involved in integration with the Northern Ireland grid.
While electricity companies have been privatised all over Europe, many governments have shied away from selling off their grid infrastructures, which are usually valued in the billions.
