ESB: Providing support to customers to reduce their energy use

Company Description

ESB is Ireland’s leading energy utility. We generate, distribute and sell (through our retail company ESB Electric Ireland) electricity to customers throughout Ireland. Our supply business, Electric Ireland retails electricity and gas to domestic and commercial energy consumers in Ireland.

Business Issue

Electric Ireland is committed to assisting its customers to get value for money from their electricity and gas supplies and to supporting national targets relating to to energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction. In the marketplace, this means educating customers on energy efficiency issues and providing easy-to-access support and information.

Solution Applied

Following its launch in 2009 with 20,000 free home energy surveys, Electric Ireland’s Home Services is now an established one-stop provider of a full range of energy efficiency products and services. These include attic and internal and external wall insulation, boiler replacements, heating controls, solar panels and heat pumps. In 2011, Home Services added gas boiler servicing and repairs to the range of products and services offered to householders. Electric Ireland is extending its energy saving programme to support business to save energy and reduce costs.

Company Benefits

 Electric Ireland is committed to playing an active role in the Better Energy Homes scheme, a government initiative to encourage people to improve the energy performance of their homes.  This scheme provides assistance to homeowners to reduce energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions and improve the comfort levels within their home.  According to Liam Molloy, Manager, Electric Ireland, “The development of this package of products and services for our customers has greatly improved and streamlined our ability to meet the needs of customers keen to reduce their energy bills, living in a more energy efficient way and supporting the achievement of overall national carbon reduction targets.”

Stakeholder Benefits

The Home Services Team in Electric Ireland has developed a quality assured, one-stop-shop for energy consumers interested in improving the energy efficiency performance of their property. According to Frank O’Shea, Blackrock, Co. Cork “A number of things made me decide to go ahead and get the work done. The winter in 2010/2011 was extremely cold and heating the house was expensive. The gas heating system I had was over 30 years old and wasn’t very efficient.  The Home Services Team is excellent, I really mean that. They went out of their way to keep me involved at every point. I’d encourage anyone to get one of the new boilers. The solar panels would also be high on my list of favourites”.

Challenges

Home energy efficiency improvement is a complex landscape.  Mapping out a useful and sustainable Home Services Programme required an understanding of customer needs, the various funding and financing options and the quality of differing infrastructural solutions.

Tip

Extensive customer consultation was a key element in ensuing that the product and service package was fit for purpose.

Department Involved

Home energy services team, Electric Ireland mailto:service@electricireland.ie

Year                                                                                                                                                   2012