The State is heading for electricity blackouts within a few years unless the ESB is allowed to build more power stations, the Government has been warned.
The warning was issued by the Irish Congress of Trades Unions in a detailed confidential submission to Deloitte and Touche, the Government-appointed experts currently examining the ESB's future structure.
Currently, the Commission for Energy Regulation has barred the ESB from building new stations and has instead given permission to private companies.
Restrictions on the ability of the ESB to invest in a new plant could damage the ESB, congress warns, adding that extra capacity must be added to the system efficiently and economically.
The ESB must be able to replace older, more inefficient stations, although it could be done in a way that would not increase the semi-State company's total share of the market, it argued. Deloitte and Touche, which has produced a draft report for Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey, is to produce its final version on December 7th.
In its submission, Ictu said it is "in favour of embracing appropriate reforms to achieve the continued success of the Irish electricity sector, enhanced competition and value for consumers".
However, the best interests of the public will only be served if the ESB is kept as a single company in control of its own power generation and transmission.
The Government must make the correct choices now or else the State will face the same kind of energy shortages that afflicted California five years ago.
An all-island energy market must be created quickly to ensure stable prices and lower prices, though this requires the creation of common rules and regulations.
The Government must invest significant money to build an electricity inter-connector to Britain to link the State to the EU's electricity market.
"An interconnection with Wales would achieve this, as England and Wales is interconnected with Scotland and France," says the 80-page report.
Electricity consumption in the State is growing by 3 per cent a year, while customers are also beginning to use power at more unpredictable times, making it more difficult to produce supply on time.
However, the Ictu document also claims that there are major worrying problems with getting the power produced to customers.
"Given the speed at which new generation plants are being built, the transmission system may not be capable of keeping pace with these developments and a supply shortage could emerge due to a transportation shortage in the system rather than a deficit in the generation capacity of the system," it said.
A larger part of the State's energy needs could be filled by wind power, though this could only happen if the ESB is kept strong and able to compensate for the wild swings that take place in such power generation.
Rejecting a break-up of the ESB, the Ictu document argued: "If the ESB were broken up, it is likely that scale efficiencies would be sacrificed. There would be duplication of back-office management, fuel procurement," it said, adding that electricity prices would rise .
Despite criticism from industry quarters, Ictu said it "would stress to the Government that competition in Ireland's electricity market is according to the European Commission more robust than in many EU states", though it acknowledged that the electricity market here had not been fully opened in 2003.
