Vulnerable customers

We recognise that disconnecting customers will cause disruption and would be regrettable should it occur. However, during an electricity system emergency, controlled disconnection may be necessary to safeguard the wider electricity system. 

ESB Networks has a database of vulnerable customers who have registered with their electricity supplier.  ESB Networks advocate all customers who meet the criteria of vulnerable customer to register with their supplier and review our Vulnerable Customer Policy.

Unfortunately ESB Networks is unable to treat vulnerable customers differently, as the electricity is disconnected remotely, it is not technically possible to isolate individual homes where vulnerable customers live. When time allows, ESB Networks will send SMS’s to our vulnerable customers, where we have their mobile number in our database, so that they are informed of the event and kept updated.

ESB Networks will notify vulnerable customers in advance of a “rota” controlled demand reduction event. However where “emergency” controlled demand reduction is required, ESB Networks may not have adequate notice from EirGrid to allow us to notify vulnerable customers in advance of the outage. However we will notify vulnerable customers as soon as possible in the immediate aftermath of them being disconnected in an emergency controlled demand reduction event , so that they are informed of the event and they can be kept updated.

Medically vulnerable customers who use electrically powered medical devices are advised to have alternative arrangements in place such as fully charged battery backup or have a plan to move to another location if required. Vulnerable customers are advised to discuss such arrangements with the district nurse or HSE representative regarding how their medical equipment works.

How you will be informed will depend on whether the event needs to happen as an emergency or if the event is planned.

Emergency demand reduction;

ESB Networks, on receipt of instruction from Eirgrid, will commence emergency controlled demand disconnection of customers from the electrical network. Unfortunately there will be no prior warning of this as ESB Networks will only have a matter of minutes to perform the emergency operations on the network.  Eirgrid and ESB Networks will co-ordinate customer messaging with customer communication plans agreed in advance.

The following channels are used:

• Public Relations
• Social Media
• www.esbnetworks.ie
• PowerCheck.ie
  
• ESB Networks National Customer Contact Centre

Rota/Planned demand reduction;

In the event that rota controlled demand reduction needs to take place, then this will be communicated beforehand via the above channels, giving customers a minimum of 12 hours notice.

In particular the ESB Networks website will contain a dedicated webpage on this topic. Customers will have access to a map of Ireland which will display the 3 different zones and these zones will have a high, medium or low risk rating associated with it which represents the probability of the customers in that zone being disconnected for controlled demand reduction reasons. We are advising customers to plan their electricity needs on the basis of the risk rating.

If outages need to occur over a series of consecutive days, then the risk ratings of the zones will alternate so there is a sharing of the burden across all geographical regions.

ESB Networks will try to limit the outage durations to a maximum of four hours. If necessary ESB Networks will disconnect additional customers who were not already disconnected earlier that day, and restore supply to customers who were already disconnected, so that we can share the burden of the outages and to help limit the duration of the outages.

ESB Networks will work to ensure customers get information eg an estimated restoration time on this as quickly as possible, this will be published on PowerCheck.ie

When EirGrid issues an amber alert on the system, and customers are aware of this through media, then customers can certainly help by reducing their usage of electricity where possible at the peak hours (i.e. 5pm – 7pm).  High users of electricity include the following:  

• Electric shower and immersion water heater
• Electric car charging
• Appliances: tumble dryer, electric/induction cookers, dishwasher and washing machines
• Electric kettle, hairdryer and clothes iron

Vulnerable customers who use electrical equipment to aid them in their daily lives are clearly not expected to refrain from using such equipment during the peak hours.