(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

The scheme will apply to all domestic electricity accounts which are registered with a supplier in the Republic of Ireland. This means that all registered customers with a classification of DG1 (urban domestic customers) or DG2 (rural domestic customers) on the 27 October 2022 for the first payment period, 20 December 2022 for the second payment period and 27 February 2023 for the third payment period, will be eligible.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

SSE Airtricity will credit customer accounts between 1 November 2022 – 31 December 2022 for the first payment, between 1 January 2023 – 28 February 2023 for the second payment period and between 1 March 2023 – 30 April 2023 for the third payment.

However, the credit may not appear on a customers’ bill until the following month during these payment periods, this will depend on individual customer billing cycles.

You’ll receive three €200 credits between November 2022 and April 2023. There will be an approximate two month gap between each credit to your account.

There will be a message on your vend receipt when each credit has been made available however, these are the dates that we will be working towards:

• €200 Government Electricity Credit 1 to be available by 4 November 2022
• €200 Government Electricity Credit 2 to be available by 12 January 2023
• €200 Government Electricity Credit 3 to be available by 9 March 2023

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme Guidance Document)

Prepay customers will be notified by SSE Airtricity via a message on your top-up note/vend receipt to inform you that the credit has been applied to the account.

The notice will appear on your applicable vend receipt as:

• Govt Elec Scheme 1/3 - see sseairtricity.com for the first payment
• Govt Elec Scheme 2/3 - see sseairtricity.com for the second payment
• Govt Elec Scheme 3/3 - see sseairtricity.com for the third payment

Due to monetary limits on the meters, you’ll need to collect the €200 credit by purchasing at least two top ups.

To receive the credit in full over two top ups please follow the steps below.

Step 1: Buy a €10* electricity top up. This purchase will provide you with a power code.
Step 2: Go to your PAYG meter and input your power code, this code will add €165.50 of the total €200 Government Credit and your €10 top up to your account. (Total €175.50)
Step 3: Wait at least one working day before repeating Step 1. and Step 2. Your second power code will provide you with the balance of the Government Credit (€34.50) and your €10 top up. (Total €44.50)

The total credit that will be available to your meter will be the Government Credit plus your €10 top-ups.

*€10 is the minimum top up credit spend.

Working Example:

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

There is no need to sign up, the scheme will be automatic and apply to all domestic electricity accounts. Customers do not need to contact SSE Airtricity. For credit pay (billpay) customers, the credits will be applied automatically to your account and will appear on your bills. For prepay customers, SSE Airtricity will send you a letter in November to explain how you can redeem the credits.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

The credit will be automatically applied to your account. Should your first billable amount after the credit is applied to your account be lower than the value of the credit, the credit will remain on your account and pass onto your following bill(s).

The credit will appear on your applicable statement as:

• Govt Electricity Credit 1 for the first payment
• Govt Electricity Credit 2 for the second payment
• Govt Electricity Credit 3 for the third payment

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

The credit is applied to your bill inclusive of VAT, which will be broken down as per the below on your bill. This equates to a benefit of €200 after VAT.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme Guidance II Document)

Yes. The scheme will apply to all domestic electricity accounts, including pay as you go customers. SSE Airtricity will send customers a letter to explain how they can redeem their credits in November. Due to the inbuilt monetary limits on the meters, it will require the credit to be redeemed over three separate vend transactions for each Government Electricity Credit Payment.

SSE Airtricity will notify customers on the vend receipt when each Government Electricity Credit is available. 

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

For operational reasons the scheme can only credit the domestic electricity account holder. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications advise as follows:

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is working with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Residentials Tenancies Board (RTB) to publicise and increase awareness of the Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme to ensure those in rented accommodation who hold the electricity account receive benefit from the payments.

In the event that a dispute should arise, there are existing dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the RTB to landlords and tenants. The RTB encourages parties to engage with its mediation service where agreements are reached in over 70% of cases.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

Suppliers will place further information on their websites with the exact dates the credit will show on their customers Electricity Bills. The date you receive your credit will depend on the date that your supplier normally sends you your bill.

If you haven’t received your credit by 31 January 2023 for the purposes of the first payment period, 31 March 2023 for the purposes of the second payment period and 31 May for the third payment period, you should contact your electricity supplier in the first instance.

Our Customer Support Team are available Monday to Friday 8.00am to 8.00pm, on 0818 81 22 20 or for more contact information click here.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

Yes. The credit can be used towards the fee to re-connect a domestic electricity supply user (DG1 or DG2).

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

Yes. The credit can be used to pay off debt that a domestic customer has on their electricity account.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

No. The credit cannot be used towards gas debt. The scheme has been designed as a payment to be made in the form of a credit to each domestic electricity account holder in Ireland. The scheme uses this single eligibility criteria to enable payments to be made to benefit the broadest range of households (many households do not have a gas connection) from relief on their energy bills.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

Should your first billable amount after the credit is applied to your account, be lower than the value of the credit, the credit will remain on your account and pass onto your following bill(s).

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

Yes. For the purposes of the first payment period, if you switch electricity supplier between 27 October 2022 and 31 December 2022, it is the supplier you were with on 27 October 2022 that will be responsible for providing you with the credit.

For the purposes of the second payment period, if you switch between 20 December 2022 and 27 February 2023, it is the supplier you were with on 20 December 2022 that will be responsible for providing you with the credit.

For the purposes of the third payment period if you switch between 27 February and 30 June, it is the supplier you were with on the 27 February that will be responsible for providing you with the credit. A supplier may apply the credit to your closing bill if applicable or credit you back via the means by which you pay your bills.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

It is the account holder registered to SSE Airtricity on the 27 October 2022 for the purposes of the first payment period, 20 December 2022 for the purposes of the second payment period and 27 February 2023 for the third payment period who is eligible to receive the credit(s).

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

No. It is the electricity supplier that you are registered with on 27 October 2022 for the purposes of the first payment period, 20 December for the purposes of the second payment period and 27 February 2023 for the purposes of the third payment period, that will be responsible for providing you with the credit(s).

Customers will not be credited twice in each of the respective payment periods.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

The scheme will apply to every domestic electricity account holder. This means that holiday homes with a domestic electricity account in Ireland will be included in the scheme. The scheme uses the above single eligibility criteria, enabling payments to reach customer accounts as early as possible.

(Advised from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities: Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme II Guidance Document)

No. It is not means tested, as the application of such criteria would override the automatic nature of the current scheme, be cumbersome for customers by requiring formal application and significantly delay the automatic crediting of customer accounts.