Big spike in electricity bills announced

Electric Ireland has today announced that it is increasing residential electricity prices by 9.3 per cent and gas prices by 7 per cent with effect from November 1. This is due to unprecedented increases in wholesale energy costs. The increases equate to €9.02 per month on the average residential electricity bill and €4.85 per month on the average residential gas bill.

Commenting on the announcement, Marguerite Sayers, Executive Director, Electric Ireland, said, “In Electric Ireland we do our very best to keep our prices as low as possible for our customers. Unfortunately, this price increase is necessary to offset the unprecedented rise in wholesale energy costs this year.

“While we know any increase is unwelcome, Electric Ireland remains fully committed to providing the best value to our customers by offering one of the lowest standard unit rates in the market for electricity and gas, with an enduring discount rate of up to 8.5 per cent which reduces those unit rates further.

“We appreciate that energy price increases combined with other bills may put some households under financial pressure as we move into the colder winter months. We would urge any customer who has difficulty in paying their bills to engage directly with us, or with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul or MABS with whom we work in such circumstances.

“Alternative options available to all Electric Ireland customers are flexible payment plans, such as the Equaliser Plan, which enables customers to spread energy costs across the full year by paying a similar amount each month or taking a payment holiday. As always, our customer support teams will be available to assist anyone with questions or concerns arising from these increases.”

Other ways in which Electric Ireland continue to benefit their customers include:

Electric Ireland continues to work closely with organisations such as the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) to help individual customers who have difficulty in paying their energy bills.

Electric Ireland’s dedicated Energy Saving Scheme made €1.4m available this year to support community programmes aimed at improving the energy efficiency of homes who may be experiencing fuel poverty, so that these customers can also be part of Ireland’s transition to a low carbon future.

Electric Ireland suggests other ways to reduce energy bills on the on the Brighter Together hub at: www.electricireland.ie/brightertogether