Bord na Móna will be hit by two one-day strikes next month as the dispute over wages worsens.
The firm's union reps met yesterday to agree to strike on consecutive Mondays, November 1st and 8th.
This could lead to a total shutdown of Bord na Móna's facilities, but the ESB is adamant there is no immediate danger to the national grid.
Union representatives met in Newbridge, Co Kildare, yesterday to decide strategy after almost 90 per cent of the company's workers voted in favour of industrial action earlier this week.
The workers say the company was due to pay the second 3 per cent instalment of a 6 per cent pay rise in September.
The increase was not paid and the company says it will not pay it because productivity targets were not reached. The deal comes on top of the national wage agreement.
Bord na Móna has four divisions - briquette, horticulture, peat energy-to-power and environmental - and the strikes will spread across all four divisions.
Bord na Móna did not comment on the looming strike action yesterday, but it has consistently maintained that productivity targets must be met before part two of the deal can be paid.
SIPTU representative, Mr Adrian Kane, said last night the union door "remains open" and he hoped there could still be a resolution to the issue.
The ESB says electricity supplies are not threatened as only one of its power plants, Bellacorrick, Co Mayo, burns turf.
The unions involved in the strike are SIPTU, Amicus, TWU and the ATGWU.
Mr Seán Grogan, director of Bord na Móna's energy division, said last night he was "disappointed with the news".
He pointed out that the workers did not receive the second increase because they had breached the spirit of an agreement.
The company had already paid €2.3 million in pay increases over and above the national pay agreement, he said.
Productivity targets had to be met to recover this money, he said.