Electricity
What your organisation needs to report for electricity consumption in the M&R system.
What should be reported
For M&R, all of your organisation’s electricity consumption should be reported. For the vast majority of organisations, this is reported as metered electricity. A small number of organisations may also consume electricity as:
- Non-fuel renewable electricity generated onsite
- Output from landfill gas generation facilities
- Electricity used to charge electric vehicles offsite
Metered electricity (MPRNs)
Meters record the quantity of energy that passes through them. All electricity connections are metered, with the exception of most public lighting.
The easiest way to report your electricity consumption is to enter and validate your MPRNs in the system. All you have to do is enter your meter numbers once and then validate them each year. The M&R system then automatically sources the electricity consumption data directly from the meter operator (ESB networks).
If your meter has not been read for a while, you may wish to submit a meter reading to ESB networks before the end of the calendar year. By doing so, the electricity consumption data provided to the M&R system will more accuartely reflect your organisation's usage for the year.
For the vast majority of organisations reporting, the best option is to enter and validate your MPRNs. If this is not possible for your organisation, you will need to self-report your electricity consumption.
Self-reporting electricity consumption
Where it is not possible to enter and validate your MPRNs, you can self-report the balance of your organisation’s electricity consumption. Be careful not to double count your consumption, i.e. don't enter MPRNs and self-report for the same usage.
As consumption data derived from MPRNs is not available for 2001-2005, public bodies wishing to use this baseline must self-report consumption for this period. You can work out your consumption in one of the following ways:
Record meter readings
- Electricity is metered and billed in kWh. The best way to calculate your annual consumption is to record your own meter readings regularly, including at the beginning and end of each year.
Calculate consumption from bills
Alternatively, you can work out your annual consumption by adding up the kWh on all of your bills for the entire year:
- Find the meter readings closest to the start of the year and the end of the year
- Subtract the start of year reading from the end of year reading
- Multiply the result by the meter multiplier to convert to kWh - this is usually 1.0 but is different for some meters (it is shown on your bills)
- Divide the result obtained in step 3 by the number of days between the two meter reads and multiply by 365 to calculate the annual consumption for the year
You may also be able to access consumption data from an online energy bill tool provided by your electricity supplier.
Other energy consumption types
While all organisations will be reporting on metered electricity, you may also use some of the following energy types for electricity.
Landfill gas generation plants
Landfill gas is a type of biogas produced from landfills. In Ireland, biogases are typically consumed within or immediately adjacent to the facilities where they are produced.
The electrical output from landfill gas generation plants is reportable as ‘Electricity - Onsite Generation by Non-fuel Renewables or Landfill Gas'. This applies to plants located both inside and outside the meter boundary of public bodies' energy consuming facilities.
You should also report the MPRN for the facility where the landfill gas generator is located.
Non-fuel renewable electricity generators
A small number of organisations have onsite non-fuel renewable electricity generators (e.g. wind turbines, small hydroelectricity plants). They supply electricity output directly to the site/facility without going through an MPRN. Some of their output may also be exported onto the national electricity distribution or transmission system.
The generation output from these systems is reportable as ‘Electricity – Onsite Generation by Non-fuel Renewables or Landfill Gas’. This applies to non-fuel renewable electricity generators that are owned or operated by public bodies and are located within the meter boundary of one of their energy consuming facilities. Those not located within the meter boundary are not included in M&R.
You should report the MPRN for the facility where the generator is located. This MPRN is unlikely to be specific to the generator.
Charging EVs
Any electricity used to charge vehicles from on-street charge stations or from fast chargers in service stations must be reported, if the relevant transport activity is within the scope of your organisation's reportable consumption.
Some organisations provide public charge points for members of the general public to charge vehicles. Organisations should not report electricity consumed by the general public. They may need to meter charge points to calculate the general public's consumption. The organisation can report attributable consumption as follows:
- Enter and validate the appropriate MPRN(s) to report total consumption from the charge points.
- Report the consumption attributable to the general public as a negative amount. Use the energy type "Net Electricity Imports (non-MPRN data)" for this.
Fuel-based electricity generators
Some organisations have onsite fuel-based electricity generators, meaning they consume one or more fossil/renewable fuel to generate electricity. Those located outside the meter boundary of the public body’s own energy consuming facilities are not included in M&R.
All of the fossil/renewable fuels consumed by the generator plants should be included in the relevant thermal fuel field e.g. if you have a gasoil generator, you should include its consumption in your gasoil subtotal. There is no need to explicitly report the amount of electricity generated onsite from thermal electricity generators.
You should report the MPRN for the facility where the generator is located. This MPRN is unlikely to be specific to the generator. The approach for reporting CHP consumption is very similar.
Further information
The net electricity import data returned by the meter operator for your MPRNs is net of electricity exports. There is no need to explicitly report electricity exports from 2006 onwards. Ensure that all MPRNs through which your organisation exports electricity onto the grid are included on your MPRN list.
If you have chosen the 2001-2005 baseline, you need to self-report your electricity consumption for these years. Deduct any electricity exported onto the public electricity system from your gross electricity imports.
The majority of public bodies use thermal energy for space heating e.g. natural gas, heating oil. A small number of public bodies use significant electricity consumption for space heating.
You can report the relevant percentage of your organisation’s total electricity consumption that is used for space heating. The system adjusts consumption for each year to take account of degree day variations from a 25-year average. If you leave this field blank, the system does not make this adjustment. If you are unsure how much electricity your organisation consumes for space heating, then you should enter your best estimate.
Degree days give a measure of the effect of each year's temperature on energy requirements. For each day that the average temperature, as recorded at eight different Met Éireann weather stations, is one degree below the designated base temperature (15.5°C), one heating degree day is accumulated. The system applies weather station specific degree day data to the organisation's geographic 'footprint', which is determined from the geographic (county) distribution of the organisation's MPRNs that have been self-classified as buildings.
In the unlikely event that an energy type that your organisation uses is not included in the reporting template, you should use the ‘Suggest Other Energy Type’ option. You will be prompted to enter several items of data for this new energy type, including:
- Name of the energy type
- The reporting units
- The conversion factor from the reporting units to kilowatt-hours (kWh) on a net calorific basis
- The CO2 emission factor for the energy in kgCO2/kWh
- The primary energy conversion factor
Refer to the lists of conversion factors for the standard energy types for factors for similar fuels. It is important that you enter the conversion factors in the correct units. Click 'Submit' to send your suggestion to SEAI for review.