Electric Ireland are officially on the naughty list this Christmas.

DublinTown has confirmed that they are set to reduce the hours that Dublin city’s Christmas lights stay on for each day due to the growing energy crisis.

The timings for which the lights are turned on differ from street to street. Typically all lights will turn on from 14:00 and remain on until 04:00 (16 hours a day). The lights on Grafton Street, meanwhile, typically on at 07:00 and run until 04:00 (21 hours a day).

However, this year, DublinTown has explained that the hours will be reduced. All lights will turn on at 16:00 and turn off at 02:00, for a total of 10 hours a day.

Speaking to The Journal, DublinTown CEO Richard Guiney said that the business group in charge of installing the Christmas lights every year is “conscious of the displays’ low energy consumption and will consider the daily duration of the illumination”.

“However, we have invested over the past 13 years in high quality, energy efficient lights that provide that additional sense of excitement throughout the city. The lights on our main streets have become iconic and we want to ensure that everyone has the chance to enjoy the city’s unique Christmas atmosphere at this special time of the year,” he said.

“We believe that it is important that memories are created and that people have a joyous festive season to look forward to.”

Rising cost of electricity this Christmas

This announcement comes as many Irish people fear power outages and rising costs of electricity. Experts have warned of possible power outages this winter and insisted on the need to cut down electricity use during peak times. However, last month Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said he did not power outages were likely this winter.

What is definite, however, is a soaring rise in electricity prices. Electric Ireland has announced that average electricity prices will increase by 37.20 euros from October 1. When all increases are taken into account households are looking at paying over 1,000 euros extra for their electricity. The increase by Electric Ireland will impact around 1.1 million electricity customers.

It is expected that an extra electricity credit will be given to households this Christma in Budget 2023 in order to alleviate some of the burden.

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