200 Jobs Announced By Energy Firm

Energy firm Airtricity has revealed the arrival of 200 new jobs after plans were finalized for it to begin supplying gas in Ireland for the first time.

The company says customers could save up to €210 from their annual fuel bills by switching to its electricity and gas service from ESB and Bórd Gáis respectively.

Airtricity has already signed up 200,000 electricity customers by offering discounts of up to 13% on ESB prices.

It is now offering to undercut Bórd Gáis by up to 10%.

Airtricity Managing Director Kevin Greenhorn said the company is growing rapidly and creating new employment as a result.

He said 100 of the jobs announced today will be in Airtricity itself in sales support and customer service, while the other 100 will be outsourced sales roles nationwide.

"It's good news for the customers, good news for the company and good news for Ireland," Mr Greenhorn said.

Last week, Bord Gáis Éireann published its Annual Report for 2009 saying it's latest figures confirmed the company had become Ireland’s largest dual-fuel energy supplier. The state owned supplier said 350,000 new customers had switched over to Bord Gáis Energy bringing the company’s customer base over its target of one million.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive John Mullins said “Bord Gáis Éireann remains highly profitable and a very significant state asset.

“Profits before tax reached €119m for 2009 and while this is down by €32m on 2008, it represents a strong performance as Bord Gáis reduced gas prices three times in a twelve month period and undertook a substantial investment programme involving acquisitions as well as capital expenditure in the core business.”

(DW/GK)