Ballinrobe confident on gas

Ballinrobe confident on gas

Claire Egan

CONFIDENCE has been expressed that Ballinrobe will be approved for gas connection, pending a final decision from the Commission for Energy Regulation in early July.
The south Mayo town was overlooked by Bord Gáis Networks last November when preliminary figures deemed the cost of connecting Ballinrobe as prohibitive.
However, due to consistent campaigning and public representations made to BGN, it now appears that there is a strong possibility the initial decision may be reversed.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Des Maye, representing a consortium of 16 business parties who have sought to have Ballinrobe included in the towns to be connected, said that they were confident Ballinrobe would receive a favourable response.
“We had an extremely positive meeting with BGN over a month ago. We presented our own findings and research to them which reflected a positive basis for inclusion on the gas connection grid. BGN are considering our proposal and a decision will then be announced by the Commission for Energy Regulation in early July. When we met with BGN representatives they said that our figures appeared favourable but that at that point they were not in a position to give a definitive answer. We are now expecting a full answer in July,” said Mr Maye.
A private consortium called for a meeting with BGN last May, stating that the semi-state organisation had used inaccurate data when compiling the gas connection report for towns in county Mayo.
The business group stated that, due to analysis inaccuracies, Ballinrobe had been wrongly excluded. It also outlined that Ballinrobe should have been considered for connection in conjunction with a neighbouring town, as was the case with other towns. In the initial BGN report, it had been considered on a stand alone basis.