Bigger bills for just about everyone from today, August 1st

Yes, August is technically the first day of autumn but we all know that summer doesn’t really end until September 1st; however, with six substantial energy price hikes taking effect today it feels as if we’re skipping the rest of summer and autumn altogether to usher in winter-like energy prices!

Since the beginning of June, we’ve seen eight out of Ireland’s 10 energy suppliers announce impending price increases. Now, they’re starting to take effect.

Higher wholesale costs mean bigger bills for domestic energy customers

All of the suppliers hiking prices have blamed the need to introduce higher prices as a direct result of rising wholesale energy costs.

SSE Airtricity kicked off the trend last month, introducing its increases on the 14th of July. It increased its electricity prices by 6.4%, its gas prices by 12.3% and its dual fuel prices by 8.9%.  

Now, as of today;

Electric Ireland’s electricity and gas prices are 6.2% and 8% more expensive, respectively.

Flogas’s gas prices are 12.8% higher.

Energia’s electricity prices are up 7.6%, its gas prices by 12.3% and its dual fuel prices by 9.6%.

Panda Power’s electricity prices are 5.9% more expensive and its gas prices are up by 5%.

And finally, Pinergy, the PAYG electricity supplier’s prices have increased by 9.38%.

In less than a week, we’ll see Bord Gáis Energy join the party when its 4.7% electricity and 5.8% gas increases take effect from the 6th of August.

*each energy supplier charges a different standard rate for its gas and electricity so the impact of, for example, a 5% price increase from one supplier may not have the same impact on your pocket as a 5% price increase from another.   

The price increases are going to affect over 98% of Ireland’s energy’s customers but that doesn’t necessarily mean your bills are going to increase this year - in fact, there is even a way to make them decrease. Read on to find out more.

Are Ireland’s energy customers being ripped off?

Though recent figures from Eurostat, the EU statistics agency show that Ireland’s electricity prices are the fourth highest in Europe - it’s not entirely without cause.

As a country, we rely heavily on energy generated by the burning of imported fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal. In fact, over 60% of it comes from these sources, which is why we end up having to pay so much for it.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom this morning as some good news from The Commission for Regulation of Utilities came in late last night…

The PSO Levy is set to decrease by a record-breaking 55%!

Back in June, the CRU announced its proposal to decrease the PSO Levy by a cool 45% for the 2018/19 period.

The Public Service Obligation levy is charged to all electricity customers and subsidises renewable energy generation, and peat and biomass power plants.

Yesterday evening, the CRU updated the benchmark price forecast and completed its review of PSO cost submissions and the great news is, the results of its calculations allow for an even greater decrease of not 45% but 56%!

The CRU’s calculations found that a PSO levy of €209.19 million will be required for the 2018/19 PSO period, which represents a decrease of €262.71 million (56%) on the 2017/18 levy of €471.9 million.

What does this mean for customers?

From a customer impact perspective, the 2018/19 PSO levy will result in a monthly charge of €3.48 (Ex. VAT). In comparison to the 2017/18 PSO, this equates to a monthly decrease of €4.21! The changes will kick in from October 1st.   

In annual terms, customers can expect a decrease from €92.28 to €41.76.

So, what can we take away from this? Well, even though nearly all of the energy suppliers are increasing their prices in some shape or form - at the very least, all electricity customers can count on their bills being €4.21 cheaper every month!  

Ok, so how can I offset the price increases and save on my energy bills?

Contrary to what you might expect, switching suppliers is still the quickest and easiest way to offset price increases and that still holds even in the current environment, where we see nearly all of the suppliers increasing their prices.

This is because energy suppliers offer discounted rates to new customers for the duration of a contract period (typically 12 months). This means that as long as you switch suppliers every 12 months, you’ll ensure that you’re always paying a good 15% (and sometimes more than this) less than if you stuck with the same supplier year in, year out.

Not only is comparing prices from supplier to supplier extremely easy using bonkers.ie but you can actually conduct the entire switching process from there in just a couple of minutes. Our price comparison calculator is free to use, totally impartial and you might even find a bonkers.ie exclusive deal or two - these are exclusive deals that you won’t find anywhere else on the web!