What the OP is referring to is the exchange of the Nightsaver meter to a standard 24 hour meter. Now that he/she is no longer using night storage heaters he/she obviously feels there is no benefit to be gained from the Nightsaver meter and as there is an increased Standing Charge for having a Nightsaver meter he/she is going to lose out financially.
The charge for exchanging the meter is €196. At one time - up to a few years ago - any such meter exchange would have been done free of charge by ESB. The costs involved were spread across the entire customer base - I caclulate they would have amounted to about 20 cent per customer per year. However, the mandarins in the Commission for Energy Regulation deemed that this approach was inequitable and they invoked the "polluter pays" principle i.e. the individual customer getting the work done must pay, not the general body of customers. ESB were therefore obliged to pass on the costs to the individual customer and that is why the OP has been quoted this amount.
Don't blame the ESB - blame the CER!
And it doesn't matter if you are a customer of Bord Gais or Airtricity - they are required to pass on the charge to you as well.
Incidentally, ESB does not supply or remove the storage heaters.
Regards,
Fnergg