Energia to increase its gas and electricity prices for second time this year

Another day, another energy price hike. This time from Energia which is raising its prices for the second time this year.

The move will impact around 160,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers.

The supplier is increasing the unit price of its electricity by 33.5% and the unit price of its gas by a whopping 47.11% from 7 October.

However Energia isn't increasing its standing charge - for now at least. This means electricity and gas bills will go up by 29% and 39% respectively if based on average usage according to the company.

The latest increases will add around €510 a year to the average customer's electricity bill and €520 to their gas bill.

Previous increases  

Energia last increased its prices in April when it upped the price of its gas and its electricity by just under 19%. 

However it also increased its prices three times in 2021.

So when all increases are taken into account households are looking at paying over €1,200 extra for their electricity and over €1,000 more for their gas each year.

We recognise the difficulty these increases will present for many households. We urge any customers experiencing financial difficulties to contact us and we commit to working on an individual and flexible basis.

We will continue to support our customers and utilise our integrated energy business to minimise the impact of increasing market costs but the scale of wholesale cost increases to date far exceed our ability to maintain current customer price structures. 

Gary Ryan, Managing Director Customer Solutions, Energia

More pain to come

Today’s news was expected given all Energia's competitors had raised their prices over the past few days.  

And it brings to an end this cycle of rate hike announcements. 

The question now is when the next one begins?

Unfortunately it’s almost certain all suppliers will raise prices again in a few months' time unless there is some type of intervention in the energy markets. While it’s hard to believe, only a small part of the increase in the wholesale price of gas has been passed on to consumers so far. 

There is talk about a cap on prices in the UK. However that is going to be hugely expensive for British taxpayers and will cost around €120bn for just one year. If implemented here it would cost over €10bn and would leave the Government with no room for any other type of social welfare measures, public pay increases or tax cuts in the upcoming budget.

There are no easy answers unfortunately.

The upcoming emergency EU energy summit where a reform of the electricity market is on the cards may hopefully yield some more affordable solutions.

Help and support

Energia says it's providing a range of supports to assist customers who may be experiencing financial difficulty. These include:

• Additional training for its customer care teams to identify and work with customers who are experiencing financial difficulty. Where appropriate, its teams will refer customers to Energia's community and charity partners for further advice.
• Extending the financial supports it provides to assist financially vulnerable customers.
• The provision of flexible payment plans to customer support agencies.
• The provision of information and communication for customers to support them in making changes to their energy consumption.

So chat to Energia if you're having trouble paying your bills.

And for more help check out our guide on what supports are available if you're struggling with your energy bills.   

And check out these 15 ways to use less electricity.

And of course, if you haven't switched energy supplier in over 12 months, you should do so now. Big discounts for a year are available to those who switch, which will help take the sting out of rising prices.