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SERVICES AND ELECTRIC IRELAND
October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Powering the Odyssey
GLOBAL STARS, such as Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Ritchie and Elton John, performing at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast will be powered by green energy as the venue has signed a new and significant energy supply deal with Electric Ireland.
The three-year contract, worth in excess of £2million, will see Electric Ireland supplying 7,000,000 units of renewable energy annually to Northern Ireland’s premier entertainment venue, which has hosted some seven million visitors since it first opened more than 12 years ago.
An integral part of the new partnership sees Electric Ireland being unveiled as the sponsor of the Odyssey’s hospitality suite. The new ‘Electric Ireland Lounge’, provides a dedicated area for business networking or entertaining, with a panoramic view of the arena.
Seán Sherlock TD announces Dublin Web Summit Shortlist for The Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Award
Seán Sherlock T.D., Minister for Research and Innovation, joined Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO, Dublin Web Summit and Margaret Colton, Head of Marketing, Electric Ireland, has announced the finalists of Ireland’s most prestigious startup competition, The Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Competition, the winner of which will be announced at the Dublin Web Summit on October 18th 2012 with a prize fund worth €100,000.
The competition, now in its third year, focuses on the most promising high potential startups. 1,000 entries have been shortlisted to 100, who will be offered an opportunity to pitch to leading international investors (Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Atomico, Accel and many others), industry leaders, startup experts at the Dublin Web Summit taking place at the RDS on the 17th and 18th of October.
Speaking at the launch, Seán Sherlock T.D., Minister for Research and Innovation said “The government is committed to encouraging entrepreneurship and I’m delighted to see such a large response to the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius. The competition will give Irish start-ups a great opportunity, putting them in touch with international investors as well as giving them crucial legal and accounting advice”.
The Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Awards will take place at The Dublin Web Summit on the 17th and 18th October, the winner will be announced at the close of the summit.
ESB’S SHAUNA BRADY VISITS ELECTRICAID CHARITY
While in Tanzania, ESB’s Shauna Brady arranged to visit some of the projects in the country that ElectricAid sponsors with BEST, a small non-governmental development organisation. Here is Shauna’s report:
“We were picked up at our hotel in Arusha by Praise Ngowi of BEST and Ruth, a field operative with the NGO and were brought about an hours drive to one of the villages to meet some of the beneficiaries and see the results of the sponsorship in action.
On the way, Praise explained to us how the funding works in reality. They concentrate on helping those with the least, to try to give them a platform from which they can provide a better quality of life for their families. Once the beneficiaries have been selected, the first thing they receive is some business training, this can be challenging as some of these people are illiterate.
Once a grant amount is decided on, it is paid in two stages with an assessment done a few months after the first payment to see how that was spent and whether the venture is worth pursuing. If all is well, the second half of the grant is allocated. Praise told us that one of the biggest challenges BEST has to overcome is that these people are in such a downtrodden situation that it initially it takes a lot of coaching to make them believe they have it in them to achieve something better for their lives – this is all part of the business training they receive.
On site, we were greeted by the village leader who decides who is the most in need of the sponsorship in the village. We were introduced to a group of six women, all young widows with dependant children who had set up small industries that they were able to grow with the help of the grants. Each woman told us her own story (her situation was and how she survived before her grant), how big a grant she received (the maximum is 100,00 Tanzanian schillings – equivalent to €50), what she spent the grant on and how this has made a difference to her life. Most were involved in some kind of farming or agriculture: raising cows or goats (to sell milk), chickens (for eggs) and growing maize, but some were also buying and selling vegetables or second-hand clothes. For some, they had gone from not knowing whether they would be able to provide even one meal a day to their families to security of knowing they can now feed their families. For other beneficiaries, their new source of income covers the cost of their children’s education. The women do not speak English, so they told us their stories in Swahali which was translated for us by Ruth. After this information session we got to visit the homes and farms of two of the ladies and got to check out how they raise their animals and grow their crops. One lady, who had a selection of cows, goats, sheep and chickens, very enthusiastically showed us one piece of equipment for vaccinating the animals that she was able to purchase with part of the grant. We also visited one of the ladies who has a small vegetable stall outside her own home, she visits the large markets in the city a few times a week to buy in bulk and then sells on to the locals.
It was evident that while these women had little they were fiercely proud of what they achieved with their small businesses and it was an honour for me to have the chance to see their world and experience at first hand how ElectricAid makes a difference to their lives.”
Electricity Prices to Increase by 5.9%
ELECTRIC IRELAND announced that its electricity prices will increase by 5.9% from 1st October 2012. This will result in an average increase of €1.22 per week on the average residential electricity bill.
Two-thirds of this increase (3.6%) represents the cost increases applicable to all energy consumers regardless of supplier, including an increase in pass through costs associated with the operation, maintenance and development of the country’s Transmission and Distribution infrastructure and the increase in the Public Service Obligation levy.
Liam Molloy, General Manager, Electric Ireland said, “We regret that we have to increase our electricity prices at this time. We are acutely aware of the financial pressures facing our customers and we have done all we can to minimise the increase.
“The price change announced today is due to a combination of factors. The increase in Transmission and Distribution network costs and the Public Service Obligation levy account for two thirds of the overall increase. We have managed to keep the remainder, which is due to the impact of the weak Euro on our wholesale energy costs, to a minimum,” Liam Molloy added.
Electric Ireland will also be increasing its residential gas prices by 8.5% mirroring the Bord Gais Energy gas price increase announced by the Commission for Energy Regulation earlier this week. Electric Ireland customers will still be able to avail of significant discounts off Bord Gáis Energy gas prices.
Electric Ireland Online Store
By Mary Milne
As the mild days draw to a close and the evenings get cooler, it’s now time to look at keeping your house warm and cosy for the long winter evenings ahead. The Electric Ireland Online Store has many energy-efficient products that will help you do this and save money on your energy bills.
A Heatkeeper Radiator Panel will reduce the time it takes to heat a room and reduce your heating bills. In a typical centrally-heated room, much of the heat is lost into the wall behind and above the radiator. Heatkeeper radiator panels sit neatly behind your radiator. Easy to fit, they cause warm air to spin out into the room. They are easy to install and come with self-adhesive double-sided tape for easy fitting. They have a unique “saw tooth” design that traps air behind the panel to insulate the radiator from the wall. A typical household radiator requires 2 – 2.5 panels. The Radiator Panels come in five-pack, 10-pack and 20pack versions, suitable typically for two, four or eight radiators respectively.
Another cost-effective way to save on fuel bills is to fit thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) to each radiator in your home. TRVs allow you set individual room temperatures by controlling the flow of hot water into the radiator based on the temperature in the room. Pegler ‘Terrier’ TRVs are stocked on the Online Store and are renowned for their quality and reliability.
We will also be launching a new product in the next few weeks, Rockwool Twin Roll Insulation. This is a unique product for use in-between, and over, joists to achieve superb insulation. It is designed for quick and easy installation. Twin Roll provides two solutions in one product: The product has been pre-split to provide one roll of 200mm thick insulation to be used over the joists and two, pre-split, rolls of 100mm thick insulation to be used in-between the joists.
Made from stone wool, Twin Roll also provides excellent acoustic performance and is so durable that once installed it should not need to be replaced.
The versatile Twin Roll is suitable for thermal insulation of roof spaces in domestic, commercial and industrial premises. A calculator will be available on the Store website so you can find out how many rolls you will need based on the size of your attic.
So keep checking in with www.electricirelandstore.ie over the comings months for new and energy saving products.
