Erris councillor says power outages are causing great upset

An Erris councillor has described how elderly people are left feeling isolated and devastated every time an electricity blackout occurs.

Cllr Sean Carey made his comments at a meeting of Mayo County Council's Environment and Climate Change Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) after a joint presentation by representatives of ESB Networks and EirGrid.

“I would be very concerned about infrastructure in the Erris region. On numerous occasions there have been outages without any warning. You would expect it was due maybe to bad weather or storms, but this happens in the best of weather. On calm evenings the electricity just goes.

“This has such an effect on so many people, you just wouldn’t realise it. We depend on electricity for all sorts, from ordinary household use to elderly people who are so dependent on medical devices."

Cllr Carey said the outages can take a long time to repair.

"It is shocking really and just not good enough for so many in rural areas to be left without electricity. I know upgrades have to be carried out on the lines but even as I speak today, we received notice at home that there would be no power all day. It is good to see upgrades being done but a lot more is needed to have a proper service for people.

Cllr Carey welcomed the move towards solar power but said transmission lines need to be upgraded.

Chairperson of the SPC, Sinn Féin Cllr Gerry Murray, said the electricity service should be taken back into state ownership. 

“We need to go back to the old model where the ESB has control of the revenue side and the infrastructure side and the government can control energy prices. We have relinquished that control to the energy regulator and a private utility, which is simply outrageous. If you had no private utilities and the state was leading from the front, there would be a 25% reduction in our ESB bills, because the state has the power to source better borrowing rates.” 

Cllr Murray added: “Dealing with Storm Éowyn, which left people without water, heat or electricity for three weeks, had as much to do with privatisation as it had to do with the weather. Before deregulation, one end was in charge of maintenance and the other was in charge of infrastructure and that would address storm issues as needed. But the infrastructure has been neglected since privatisation. 

"So it is fair to say privatisation has been a disaster, and it is time for the state to take back control, as has happened in countries such as France, Sweden and Austria. We want democratic ownership and accountability and our politicians to be in charge.” 

Cllr Murray said he understood that the total subsidy to private electrical companies from the state amounted to €6 billion, adding: “That revenue stream that is going to the utilities, it hasn’t worked and we now have extremely high electricity charges. Ultimately, the consumer picks up the tab, that is the result of deregulation."

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.