The ESB is believed to be considering submitting its claim for a 3 per cent price rise to the new electricity regulator, who takes up his position early in the new year.
The request for the price increase has already been turned down by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke.
She has said the ESB should not be looking to increase its prices ahead of the deregulation in 2000.
While an ESB spokesman refused to comment, it is understood the company has made several representations to the Department on the issue since Ms O'Rourke initially ruled out the increase in August.
The ESB claims the price increase was part of the tripartite Cost and Competitiveness Review and has to be granted.
A spokesman for the Department said last night that "public service obligations" included in the recent electricity regulation bill would mean the ESB is compensated for any obligations it has, which do not apply to new entrants.
He added that it would be "ironic" if a new era in the electricity market meant a rise in prices.
This week Ms O'Rourke appointed Mr Tom Reeves, an assistant secretary at the Department, as the new electricity regulator and he will have a role in approving the ESB's tariffs.
The Fine Gael spokesman on Public Enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, said Ms O'Rourke was "sleepwalking through the consequences for consumers of the implementation of her Department's policy on competition in the electricity sector".
"The Minister seems unaware that the Government will no longer have a role in price control post-deregulation and the ESB will simply have to prove that the cost of supplying electricity to householders is greater than supplying large volumes to industry," he said.
However, even if the regulator approves an ESB price rise, the Government remains the only shareholder and this means the price rise could be blocked.
An average across-the-board 3 per cent rise would mean more than £30 million to the ESB and, it argues, would help the company face new comptitors for the 28 per cent of the market which will be liberalised in 2000.
While the overall increase would average out at 3 per cent, the increase would be higher than that for domestic users and would allow the company to maintain and possibly drop its charges for business customers. It is estimated that ESB business customers are currently subsidising domestic users by up to 12 per cent.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) remains firmly interested in entering the Republic's electricity market.
In a letter released to The Irish Times as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Public Enterprise reassures the company that "widening opportunities" in the market remain open.
The letter, from a senior official in the Department to NIE, says despite money being spent on the "refurbishment of certain of the midland peat fired power plants", there will still be a need for "new generating capacity".
The letter to the general manager of NIE Enterprises, Mr Eamon Beattie, says that "a number of generating sets will close over the next few years, thus widening the opportunities for new players to enter the market in the coming years".
Other documentation says it is the Department's view that the coal fired station at Moneypoint will not be extended.
A letter from an assistant principal in the Department to Clare TD, Mr Brendan Daly, said "a new coal unit would not be competitive with a new combined cycle gas turbine plant". Mr Daly had asked about the feasibility of building a fourth coal unit.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)