Electric Ireland to be investigated for potential license breaches

The Northern Ireland Utility Regulator has launched a formal investigation into Electric Ireland for potential breaches of its licence.

Last year, a significant technical fault affected thousands of Electric Ireland customers, leaving some without power.

However it is not clear to what extent the investigation is related to that incident.

The regulator is investigating eight potential breaches.

This includes the handling of complaints and the provision of customer information.

If the regulator finds that a company has breached the terms of its licence it can impose fines.

If a company does not comply with enforcement action it can ultimately be stripped of its operating licence.

In 2020 Electric Ireland agreed to make a donation of £250,000 to charities after a regulator's investigation which focused on the firm's treatment of customers in areas such as switching, communications and handling complaints.

The company, which is part of Ireland's state-owned electricity company, is the third-largest electricity supplier in NI.

In August and September last year some of its customers were left without power as a fault meant they could not top up their pay-as-you-go meters.