Lawless accuses ESB of ‘cynical’ and ‘unjust’ move by passing Storm Éowyn costs onto Mayo customers

Mayo county councillor Deirdre Lawless has labelled the ESB as ‘cynical’ and ‘unjust’ after a number of her constituents saw their electricity bills rise following Storm Éowyn. 

Storm Éowyn caused tens of millions of damage when it struck the country on January 24, leaving thousands of Mayo people without power. Some broadband and telephone customers still have not had their service restored since the storm. 

Cllr Lawless said that people were being ‘wronged on the double’ by being left without power for so long and then seeing an increase in their bills.

She took particular issue with ESB bills increasing at a time when the ESB Group recorded a €706 million profit in 2024.

“When you’ve racked up profits in the hundreds of millions year after year, there is no moral or economic case to ask the public to foot the bill for storm repairs. This isn’t a case of a company under pressure - it’s a case of a company that simply doesn’t want to dip into its own overflowing reserves,” said Cllr Lawless. 

“If these profits had been reinvested in fortifying our grid and storm-proofing our energy infrastructure, the damage caused by Storm Éowyn might have been significantly reduced - or even prevented altogether,” she said. 

“Instead, we have a national electricity network that’s still shockingly vulnerable, particularly for elderly, vulnerable and rural households. That’s not just poor planning — that’s neglect.”

Cllr Lawless added: “People have effectively been wronged on the double. First, they were left in the cold and dark as the fragile grid collapsed under pressure. Now, they’re being handed the bill — from a company that has had every opportunity to future-proof the system but chose instead to focus on profits.”

By February 11, the ESB had restored power to over 768,000 customers affected by Storm Éowyn. In a statement issued on February 7, the company said the resulting network repair costs ‘will not impact on electricity prices during 2025’.

The semi-state company said the 2025 would be reviewed by the relevant regulator before the composition of network charges from October 2026 onwards is determined. 

Cllr Lawless claimed that storm-proofing Ireland’s grid ‘appears to be nowhere near their radar’. 

“And that’s not just a missed opportunity - it’s a betrayal of public trust,” she added.

“If hundreds of millions in annual profit isn’t enough to invest in modernising and storm-proofing our grid, then what is? What astronomical level of profit do they deem sufficient before taking seriously the urgent need to upgrade Ireland’s electric network to the standard expected in any modern Western country?”

In response to a request for comment from The Mayo News, the ESB insisted that electricity prices in 2025 would not be affected by the costs of repairing damage from Storm Éowyn. 

“ESB Networks makes considerable investments to ensure that all 2.4 million customers have a reliable and safe supply. In the past four years, ESB Networks has invested close to €950m on asset replacement reinforcement of the networks,” said an ESB spokesperson. 

“For information, implementation of ESB Networks Enhanced Winter 2025 Grid Resilience Plan began in March and will continue until October of this year. The objective of the plan is to enhance the resilience of the grid in the most vulnerable locations for the upcoming winter, whilst progressing plans and initiatives for longer term.”