Turbines on a wind farm in County Offaly. Curbing wholesale prices from wind generation could reduce the cost of electricity. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ieWindfall taxes on energy company profits might sound good politically, but they will not bring down prices. Families are paying more than €2,500 per year for electricity because wholesale charges are high, a consequence of soaring fuel costs, which Russia has aggravated by cutting natural gas supplies to Europe.
One route worth exploring is to change the law governing the REFIT scheme to limit wind farm revenues to the minimum price that it guarantees. But instead of refunding cash, the legislation should simply declare that they can only sell wholesale electricity at this price Some wind farms could cry foul, even threaten legal action. So once it publishes the required legislation, the Government would need to tell the industry that the other option is a windfall tax. It has an advantage in any negotiation, the State owns several companies that own wind farms, including the ESB. Some of the other big players, Energia and SSE Airtricity, are well known as they supply electricity to homes and businesses.