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21
SERVICES AND ELECTRIC IRELAND
October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Home Services team in ALONE retrofit
THE HOME SERVICES Team in Electric Ireland recently completed a substantial retrofit for ALONE to 30 of its housing units. ALONE provides support for older people in need of assistance and the retrofitting was carried out as part of a donation announced by Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive, last December. The work done will bring the ALONE houses up to the current standards for insulation and will have long term benefits for the ALONE residents.
The retrofit was accompanied by a financial donation to support the ALONE fuel affordability programme. Fuel poverty is an ever growing concern for ALONE and for many older people and marginalised groups and it is hoped that the project will go some way towards combating this problem. The retrofitting work took place over a two month period in a variety of ALONE houses. As one of its core services, ALONE provides permanent housing for almost 100 older people who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness. The charity is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2012.
Brian Dowd Energy Services Manager, Electric Ireland commented, “We are delighted that we were able support ALONE and their residents by improving the energy efficiency of these homes.”
The work carried out will slow down the heat loss from the properties, therefore ensuring that the internal temperature stays higher throughout the day and resulting in reduced fuel bills. But, the benefits of the retrofit extend beyond reduced energy bills – less fuel will be required to heat the properties, meaning reduced carbon emissions and a more sustainable future for these old buildings. The work carried out as part of the retrofit included internal wall insulation; flat roof and ceiling insulation along with draft proofing, and the provision of energy saving light bulbs.
ALONE provides supports for older people in need of assistance through its befriending service, permanent housing for those at risk of homelessness, and crisis supports in the community. The charity is a vocal advocate for the need to address the issue of fuel poverty. ALONE was this year awarded an ISO International Quality Certification, only the second charity in the country to receive this Certification.
CER reveals Electric Ireland tops Customer Satisfaction Survey
THE COMMISSION for Energy Regulation (CER) has announced that Electric Ireland has come out on top in its recent energy market consumer survey with 92% of its customers satisfied. This tops Electric Ireland’s previous high of 83% in 2011.
Additionally, the CER’s statistics reveal that Electric Ireland is also bucking the disconnections trend, driving down disconnections by more than 60% in Q1 of 2012. The company’s focus has been firmly on early intervention for those experiencing difficulty. Through a combination of installing Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) meters and payment arrangement plans, Electric Ireland is helping customers in difficulty to better manage their bills and avoid disconnection.
Electric Ireland is pleased that these practical solutions for customers are working, that disconnections are down, and satisfaction levels are up. We have found that actively engaging at an early point in the debt cycle is key and helping customers to manage their bills and find practical solutions to their repayment issues is mutually beneficial.
These options are proving very attractive to customers. By the end of June this year, Electric Ireland had agreed more than 130,000 payments plans with customers in difficulty and has so far installed about 5,500 PAYG meters, averaging some 350 installations a week.
Electric Ireland energised Electric Picnic
ELECTRIC IRELAND, Official Energy Partner to Electric Picnic, had a fantastic launch of Dancergy – a dance-themed activity at this year’s Electric Picnic, led by well-known 1990s fitness instructor Mr Motivator.
With the installation of a sustainable energy dance floor at the Electric Ireland zone of the Picnic, Mr. Motivator lead daily dance sessions where festival goers had the opportunity to take to the floor with the fitness legend, bust some dance moves in his trademark style and even contribute towards the energy requirements of the Electric Picnic.
Electric Ireland was delighted to show festival goers how much fun sustainability can be. This was seen at the picnic with our tent packed full of festival goers on our sustainable dance floor. Electric Picnic is all about having fun and with Mr Motivator on board made it an action-packed weekend.
In addition, we provided 8km of energy efficient festoon lighting around the camp sites and walk ways to the main arena, which reduced the festival’s lighting emissions by 80%-keeping sustainability at the heart of Electric Picnic.
Electric Ireland Road Safety Authority sponsorship
ELECTRIC IRELAND is delighted to partner with the Road Safety Authority for the third year running to promote road safety among our youngest road users and, indeed, their families.
Since the beginning of this campaign, the RSA and Electric Ireland have distributed more than 250,000 high-visibility vests to children starting school. This has helped ensure that our youngest and most vulnerable road users are clearly visible on the roads at all times and reflects Electric Ireland’s ongoing commitment to promoting safe road use at all times.
