Several sections of the electricity regulation Bill, which aims to liberalise 28 per cent of the market and set up a new industry regulator, were criticised heavily yesterday at the committee stage in the Oireachtas.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, was present before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport and said she would deal with many of the objections raised at the report stage. The committee stage of the Bill continues today.
The Fine Gael spokesman on Public Enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, and the Labour Party spokesman, Mr Emmet Stagg, said Ms O'Rourke was trying to pass several unclarified issues over to the new regulator, Mr Tom Reeves.
The inclusion in the Bill of combined heat and power (CHP) plants as renewable forms of energy was strongly criticised by committee members. CHP plants are different to conventional power plants as they retain the heat produced in electricity combustion and recycle it.
According to renewable energy companies, CHP power should not be included in this section because they use fossil fuels. They claim the wind energy industry, currently in its infancy, will be destroyed if CHP is classified as renewable, which would mean it could be offered to any electricity customer, unlike conventional plants which can target only 28 per cent of the market. When an amendment was put on this issue to Ms O'Rourke, she decided to consult with the Opposition spokesmen soon and come back to the issue at report stage.
Mr Yates said Ms O'Rourke's own amendment in the area did not address either of the groups involved - renewable energy producers or CHP proponents. He said it would be "unfair" to hand over the issue to the regulator, Mr Reeves, who would have the task of precisely defining CHP.
Ms O'Rourke said the voices of various vested interests had become shriller in recent weeks. Other criticisms were that the Bill did not deal with the issue of electricity being imported to the Republic from nuclear sources in Britain. Ms O'Rourke said she would also deal with this in report stage.
