For SME energy users and multi-site businesses, energy is rarely ‘just another overhead’. It affects cost, margin, operational resilience and, increasingly, your decarbonisation plans too.
A good advisor should do more than source prices. They should help you make better decisions, reduce risk, and give you confidence that somebody is looking around corners on your behalf while giving you guidance on changes coming down the line.
Electricity costs for Irish SMEs are not driven by energy prices alone.
A growing proportion of every electricity bill comes from regulatory charges that fund the electricity grid and support Ireland’s transition to cleaner energy. While unavoidable, these charges have increased significantly over the past decade and now account for over half of the unit cost of electricity for many
businesses. This white paper explains what these charges are, how they have evolved and why they matter more than ever for SME budgeting, tariff selection and investment planning.
Key Insights Include
• Consumption-based regulatory charges have increased by over 100% since 2016.
• Regulatory costs now rival or exceed wholesale electricity prices.
• Capacity-related charges and MIC penalties are becoming more financially significant.
• Rising charges improve the economics of efficiency and self generation projects, but only if assessed correctly.
Please download more at the link below:
https://www.exemplarenergy.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Exemplar_White-paper_vs.3.pdf
