CRU not taking climate impact into account, says environmental charity

The environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment has warned the Commission for the Regulator of Utilities that it is proposing a regulatory framework to accommodate unprecedented projected fossil gas demand without assessing its climate consequences.

The CRU proposal responds to Gas Networks Ireland’s assessment of 17 prospective industrial customers, seven of which do not yet have planning permission. Yet according to Tony Lowes, one of the Directors of FIE, “the consultation contains no estimate of the likely greenhouse gas emissions under different demand scenarios, no examination of the implications for Ireland’s legally binding carbon budgets, and no comparison with climate-aligned futures in which gas demand declines, as envisaged across Ireland’s climate and energy policy framework.”

“The Commission must demonstrate in its reasons how, insofar as practicable, it has performed its statutory decision-making function consistently with the Climate Action Plan, the national climate objective, and the objectives of mitigation and adaptation. The fact that a proposal is associated with renewable generation does not of itself discharge that duty.”

“These rules do not stand alone,” said Mr. Lowes. “They form part of a complex of new regulations – on connections, on large energy users, on network development – each decided in isolation, but felt cumulatively. No one is asking what these decisions add up to for the climate. A proposal justified by gigawatts of new fossil gas demand cannot be assessed without ever quantifying the emissions.”

FIE’s submission notes that while the CRU assessed its obligations under section 15 of the Climate Action Act, climate considerations appear to have been applied only when evaluating the preferred option – not when developing demand assumptions or considering alternatives. Intermediate options, including temporary, conditional or criteria-based arrangements, were not examined with the same rigour as the chosen approach.

The submission also notes that preserving gas supply for electricity-system security is a different question from facilitating substantial new industrial gas demand, and that the consultation does not adequately distinguish between the two.

FIE has asked the CRU, before any final decision, to publish the assumptions behind the demand projections, the emissions consequences, the carbon budget implications, and the full range of alternatives considered.