Once an energy audit is carried out, the MIC can be verified and at times significantly reduced resulting in large savings in the running costs.
The MIC (Maximum Import Capacity) of a businesses electricity connection is a measure of the electricity capacity that ESB Networks have agreed to deliver to that site. The business is charged a flat daily rate for each kVA unit in their MIC. For a lot of businesses the MIC is set higher than is actually required.
In most businesses the MIC can be significantly reduced resulting in large savings in the running costs. For example with the ESB Maximum Demand Low Voltage Tariff the cost is currently €0.0866/kVA/day.
In a lot of cases the Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) is not suitable for the premises, it is up to you to decide on the correct capacity. It is not in the best interest of the suppliers for you to have this correct. They are in a no lose situation, if MIC is to high you are paying to much for the capacity, each kVA cost approx €30 per year (DG6 bill). For example, if your capacity is 300kVA € (9000) and the max ever used was 200 kVA (€6000), you will be giving away €3000 each year for nothing. If it is too low and you exceed the import kVA, heavy penalties occur in the form of ‘Excess Capacity Surcharge’.
As a guideline it is suggested that the MIC should be set at 5% above your highest electrical load in the past year.
This service ensures that you don’t pay for availability that you will not utilize.
