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The five charities which benefit from the Electric Ireland settlement are:<\/p>\n
They stand to receive \u00a3150,000 each under the terms of the deal.<\/p>\n
In addition to the charity payments, Electric Ireland has also taken remedial action to address the issues which had been under investigation. <\/p>\n
This included adopting new systems to manage its licence obligations and improving its quality assurance controls to mitigate against future problems. <\/p>\n
Electric Ireland no longer supplies domestic electricity in Northern Ireland, after it announced it was pulling out of the residential part of the market in May 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n At that time it served about 100,000 customers but left the residential sector just two months after the Utility Regulator launched its formal investigation for potential licence breaches.<\/p>\n The firm continues to supply electricity to businesses customers in non-domestic settings in Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n “Although the investigation has now concluded, we will continue to monitor implementation closely and will consider further regulatory action if the commitments are not met,” French said. <\/p>\n “Its commitments remain binding despite its exit from the domestic market,” he added.<\/p>\n The Utility Regular protects consumer interests in the electricity, gas and water markets in Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n If a utility company does not comply with its enforcement actions it can face fines and can ultimately be stripped of its operating licence.<\/p>\n The latest resolution is the second time in recent years that Electric Ireland has made a large donation to charity following a Utility Regulator investigation. <\/p>\n In October 2020 the firm agreed to pay \u00a3250,000 to charities<\/a> after its treatment of customers in areas such as switching, communications and handling complaints came under scrutiny. <\/p>\n At that time it also agreed to carry out a series of compliance audits in relation to its licence conditions.<\/p>\n