If you've ever looked closely at an Irish electricity bill, you'll have spotted a line item called the PSO levy — sometimes written as "Public Service Obligation levy" or just "PSO charge." It appears on every residential electricity bill in Ireland, regardless of which supplier you're with. Most customers pay it without ever understanding what it is or why it exists. This guide explains exactly what the PSO levy is, how much it costs, and what — if anything — you can do about it.
What Is the PSO Levy?
The PSO levy stands for Public Service Obligation levy. It is a government-mandated charge collected by all electricity suppliers on behalf of the state and passed on in full to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). The CRU then distributes the funds to electricity generators that provide services the open market wouldn't otherwise support at sufficient scale.
In plain terms, the PSO levy is a subsidy mechanism baked into every Irish electricity bill. It ensures certain types of generation — primarily peat-fired power stations and indigenous renewable energy projects — receive financial support to remain viable or to be developed.
The legal basis for the levy is the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, which gave the Minister for Energy the power to impose public service obligations on electricity undertakings. The levy is set annually by the CRU following a review of the support costs for the coming year.
What Does the PSO Levy Fund?
Historically, the PSO levy funded three main areas:
Peat generation — the Bord na Móna and ESB peat-fired power stations (Lough Ree and West Offaly) received PSO support to keep burning indigenous peat, on the grounds of fuel security and rural employment. Both stations closed in 2020 as part of Ireland's climate commitments, which significantly reduced this component of the levy.
Renewable energy support schemes — the REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff) scheme guarantees minimum prices to renewable generators — wind farms, hydro plants, and biomass facilities — for 15 years from commissioning. The PSO levy covers the difference between the guaranteed price and the actual market price when the market price is lower.
Indigenous generation security — a smaller component supports generation assets deemed necessary for grid security that wouldn't otherwise be economically viable on the open market.
As Ireland's renewable capacity has grown and wholesale electricity prices have risen, the REFIT element of the levy has fluctuated significantly — in high-price periods, when the market rate exceeds the guaranteed REFIT price, the renewable generators owe money back to the fund, which can temporarily reduce or even zero out the levy.
How Much Is the PSO Levy in 2026?
The PSO levy is set each October for the following 12-month period (October to September). It is expressed as a fixed euro amount per month for domestic customers, collected through your electricity bill regardless of how much electricity you use.
The levy has fluctuated considerably in recent years, driven by movements in wholesale electricity prices and the REFIT settlement position:
| Period | Monthly PSO levy (domestic) | |--------|----------------------------| | Oct 2022 – Sep 2023 | €0.00 (suspended — high wholesale prices) | | Oct 2023 – Sep 2024 | €4.22/month | | Oct 2024 – Sep 2025 | €3.86/month | | Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 | ~€3.50–€4.50/month (CRU determination) |
At current rates, the PSO levy adds roughly €42–€55 per year to a typical domestic electricity bill. It appears as a fixed line item — it does not scale with your consumption, so it has a proportionally larger impact on low-usage households.
Does Switching Supplier Affect the PSO Levy?
No. The PSO levy is identical regardless of which electricity supplier you choose. Every licensed electricity supplier in Ireland collects the same levy amount on the CRU's behalf. It is not a supplier charge — it is a state-mandated pass-through.
This means it cannot be negotiated away, excluded from tariff comparisons, or avoided by switching. Any supplier that claimed to offer a "PSO-free" tariff would be misrepresenting their product — no such thing exists in the Irish market.
When GoSwitch and other comparison tools calculate your projected annual electricity cost, the PSO levy is either included as a fixed annual addition or shown separately. Either way, it affects every tariff equally, so it does not change which tariff is cheapest for your home.
Is the PSO Levy Going Up or Down?
The long-term direction of the PSO levy depends on two opposing forces. As Ireland builds more renewable capacity, REFIT support costs may increase if market prices fall below guaranteed levels. At the same time, the closure of the peat stations has permanently removed that component of the levy.
The CRU is also consulting on successor renewable support schemes (RESS — Renewable Electricity Support Scheme) which use a different auction-based mechanism. Over time, as the older REFIT contracts expire and are replaced by RESS contracts, the structure of what the PSO levy funds will shift — though the levy itself is unlikely to disappear.
For most households, the PSO levy is a manageable fixed cost of roughly €4 a month. The far larger variable in your electricity bill is the unit rate and standing charge — which do vary significantly across suppliers and are directly reducible by switching.
The Costs You Can Actually Control
The PSO levy, VAT, and network charges (which together make up the non-supplier portion of your bill) are fixed for every customer. What you can control is the commercial tariff your supplier charges — the unit rate and standing charge — which is where switching delivers real savings.
GoSwitch compares unit rates and standing charges across all seven Irish electricity suppliers, showing your projected annual cost after the new customer discount. The PSO levy is a fixed overhead on top; the tariff underneath it is where the competition — and your saving — lives.
Enter your annual kWh to see every live tariff ranked by real annual cost. The PSO levy will be the same whichever you choose — the unit rate won't be.