Tricia Murray Interview
A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and DIT Bolton Street, her role spans regulatory compliance, product development, people management, data analysis, budget forecasting, ESG support etc.
How many people are in Energia’s Energy Services Team, and what are their roles?
"The team is split between Dublin and Belfast. Some of the team members manage funding, provided by Energia, to support the uptake of energy efficiency projects in private residential housing and housing stock belonging to local authorities and approved housing bodies."
"In private housing, we provide the funding to the homeowner through our One Stop Shop partners and ensure energy efficiency measures such as heat pumps and attic and wall insulation are installed to the required quality standards of the scheme. "
"With social housing we support the local authorities directly by providing funding and/or services to them to support the energy efficiency upgrade of their housing stock. In addition, these team members provide technical support for development of product and services, for example tariffs, and energy transition products such as solar PV and heat pumps."
"A number of team members manage funding, provided by Energia, to support the uptake of energy efficiency projects in the commercial sector including manufacturing, pharma, retail, commercial buildings, community centres etc. Energia provides the funding to business directly and also provides services to enable businesses to carry out energy efficiency upgrades. These upgrades include heat pumps, heat recovery, controls, fabric upgrades, optimisation etc."
"The commercial team also provides supplementary services such as energy auditing and technical support for product and service development such as tariffs and energy transition products such as solar PV, pump, EV chargers and batteries."
"The team members in Northern Ireland manage the commercial element of Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Program (NISEP). PowerNI, our sister company, is allocated funding on an annual basis from the NI government to support business to carry out energy efficiency upgrades. The most popular projects in recent years to receive NISEP funding have been Solar PV."
"The NI team are founding members of Energia’s Green Team promoting sustainability and also work closely with Energia’s ESG team ensuring our ESG goals are met and paving the way for our future aspirations."
Tricia oversees the team and manages its responsibilities. She ensures Energia is kept updated on the impacts, to the business and to customers, of various obligations and regulations such as the Energy Efficiency Directive, Energy Performance in Buildings Directive, Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme, Renewable Heat Obligation Scheme and the Emissions Trading System 2.
Lobbying is a core aspect of Tricia’s role; this is to ensure the best outcome for Energia and its customers due to the implementation of regulations and directives mentioned above. Our external stakeholders include our domestic and commercial customers, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, local authorities and housing associations, our OSS partners, Energy consultants, Electricity Association of Ireland, Ireland Electrified, and Environmental Protection Agency.
Do different team members specialise in different business sizes?
"Our focus to date has been on large commercial customers. However, this is changing, and we are aware that micro SMEs have very different requirements. They have less access to capital, longer payback periods and are often leasing their premises. We can guide them in efficient energy management and low cost energy upgrades."
How do you handle the technical complexity of commercial energy solutions while keeping it accessible for business owners?
"Good question and each customer is unique. A commercial customer approached us recently in relation to a project they were thinking of implementing with an eye to reaching net zero. It didn’t take us long to realise that our customer didn’t understand the meaning of net zero."
"A site visit was arranged where we took the opportunity to educate our customer about their site. Our engineers highlighted the areas where there was potential for energy reduction, which technologies were suitable, what grants were available and the impacts of future regulations on the cost of energy."
"The next step is to undertake an in-depth energy audit. The key is to understand the customer’s knowledge of energy, efficiency, level of technical experience/expertise, and find the right approach to suit their needs and resources."
How does your team approach educating customers about complex concepts like MIC increases or pass-through costs?
"On specific case by case basis my team work with our key account managers to assist our customers and to educate them on MIC increases and the impacts on future bills. MIC increases can be costly and can take a number of years to implement, depending on whether there are constraints on the grid in that area. Sometimes there are alternatives, through ESBN pilots, such as timed connections and flexible connections, which we keep them informed of."
Pass-through charges are a significant portion of an electricity bill and can include:
- Transmission Use of Systems (paid to EirGrid)
- Distribution Use of Systems (paid to ESBN)
- Market operator charges
- Imperfection charges
- Supplier capacity charges
- Electricity kWh charges
- MIC charges
- Standing Charge
- Low Power Factor surcharge
- The Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM)
- PSO levy
- VAT
How do you ensure your team stays up-to-date with changes in regulations, tariffs and available technologies?
"We do this through on the job learning, mentoring one another and sharing insights, and attending conferences. Three team members are currently completing postgrad courses with another three about to start new courses."
"There is close collaboration with our regulation team, working with and supporting our products and services teams, and feeding into and being part of our innovation team. Attending seminars, individual research and engaging with external consultants are also important."
How do you measure success for your team?
"We look at energy savings achieved, customer satisfaction and the impacts of collaboration with other teams, such as the launch of a new product or service. Other success metrics include team dynamics, winning industry awards, successful outcome of lobbying, continually innovating and improving, desire to upskill, and appetite to face challenges."