UUP raises conflict of interest concerns over southern owners of Northern Ireland’s electricity supply system

The UUP have demanded that the transmission system known as SONI that powers every home, business, school, hospital and farm in Northern Ireland has a new independent management structure.

The call was made after a report into SONI advised this week that the Province’s power supply could be in danger of being influenced by its southern owner, EirGrid.

The report by the Utility Regulator, which oversees NI’s electricity, gas, water and sewage industries, also warned that there was a “potential for inappropriately higher prices for NI consumers”.

UUP finance spokesperson Steve Aiken OBE described the report as a “wake-up call to the (DUP) minister of economy”.

Mr Aiken referred to a quote from the regulator’s report which stated: “There must be no risk that SONI might be, or be perceived to be, directed or unduly influenced by EirGrid in its pursuit of its objectives and policy of government in the Republic of Ireland.”

He said: “There have been far too many disastrous decisions made on Northern Ireland’s energy systems, none more than handing the control of our grid, energy strategy and pricing to a foreign government owned company.

“The report provides a litany of conclusions that shows that far from being an ‘independent’ system operator, it is directly managed and controlled by EirGrid – not to the betterment of the consumers of Northern Ireland, but to its parent company’s main interests.”

He said that NI’s electricity supply was “too fragile and dependent” on the Republic’s state-owned utilities.

The UUP MLA continued: “Decisions made by the parent company directly affect our security of supply, access to renewables to the system, and pricing arrangements.

“Furthermore, these decisions made in Dublin are, at best, opaque to our Regulator.”

Mr Aiken said there was a need for urgent reform and called on DUP Economy Minister Gordon Lyons to initiate a fundamental and far-reaching review of the Province’s energy security and supply.

Since 2009. SONI has been part of the Eirgird Group with the former operating the all-island wholesale electricity market through the Single Electricity Market Operator.