Eighteen thousand people in Northern Ireland who applied for compensation after losing power during Storm Eowyn could end up instead having to pay charges, a Stormont committee has heard.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett said people had been “falsely” led to believe they would get compensation following the storm in January, stating the “whole episode had been deeply damaging” for the Department for the Economy (DfE).
More than 320,000 properties were left without power after winds in excess of 90mph battered Northern Ireland on January 24.
This week it was announced that a DfE working group had concluded there are “no routes” for Northern Ireland Electricity Networks to make compensation payments to customers.
The storm caused widespread damage to the electricity infrastructure (Jonathan McCambridge/PA)
Richard Rodgers, head of energy in the department, told the Economy Committee that Eowyn was the most severe storm ever recorded in Northern Ireland.
He told MLAs that Executive ministers had met with the managing director of NIE Networks shortly after the storm and the issue of compensation was raised.
A working group was then set up to establish if compensation could be paid.
He said it had been determined that offering compensation would ultimately lead to higher energy prices for customers.
He said within the legislative framework for compensation, NIE Networks can apply for an exemption in the event of severe weather, and the company had indicated it would do so.
Mr Rodgers added: “In conclusion, there will be no compensation payment for customers who were impacted by Storm Eowyn.
“All bodies involved in the response to the storm will be considering the lessons learnt.”
The official told the committee that 18,000 customers who lost power had applied for compensation.
Committee chair Phillip Brett said he could not understand why it had taken the department seven weeks to arrive at a conclusion which was “blindingly obvious”.
He referred to a written answer provided by former economy minister Conor Murphy on January 27, which indicated that it had “been agreed in principle” that compensation would be paid to customers affected by the storm.
Mr Rodgers said in the immediate aftermath of the storm there had been “a lot of desire from a range of Executive ministers that compensation should be paid and NIE should step up”.
He said the written answer provided by the former minister was not incorrect because the working group was being established to examine if compensation could be paid.
Mr Brett said: “My huge difficulty is that there are now 18,000 claims which have been submitted.
“People saw that from your minister to say that compensation will be made, 18,000 claims have now been made.”
The DUP MLA said he had spoken to the Utility Regulator, who had told him those who made the claims could now be subject to charges themselves.
Mr Rodgers said 15,000 of the claims arrived before the ministerial written answer.
Mr Brett said: “This whole episode has been deeply damaging for the department.
“What we have seen is a false claim made by the minister that it had been agreed in principle that compensation payments would be paid, which is not the case.”
He added: “The customers who are making those claims could be then subject to charges for making a claim…18,000 people could be subject to charges as a result of misleading information.”
UUP MLA Diana Armstrong asked why “erroneous messaging” was not corrected earlier over compensation.
Mr Rodgers said: “I think it was unfortunate that right in the middle, in the eye of the storm, that the clamour was for compensation.
“Unfortunately there are no easy answers here.”
He added: “With hindsight, messaging should be sharper and quicker.”