Iberdrola customers will be paying €139 more for their electricity and €151 more for their gas come January after the energy supplier announced yet another price increase.
As the outlook for the energy grid remains quite bleak for the winter months, we thought energy customers would at the very least be spared another increase coming into 2022…
But alas, that’s unfortunately not the case.
Iberdrola has become the latest energy supplier to announce yet another price increase for its customers this year.
Read on for the full details of the latest price increase announcement.
Iberdrola price hike
The Spanish-owned energy supplier has announced a significant 9.5% increase in the cost of its electricity and a 15% increase in its gas prices.
The scheduled price hike will take effect on January 1st 2022.
As a result, electricity customers can expect to pay around €139 more per year, while gas customers will pay approximately €151 more annually.
However, when previous price increases over the past 12 months are taken into account, customers will be paying around €560 more for their electricity and €408 more for their gas
Previous price increases
Iberdrola’s first price increase came into effect in April when its electricity and gas prices increased for customers by 6.3% and 4.9% respectively.
Not even three months later it increased its electricity prices in July by a further 12.5% and its gas prices by 8.5%.
Then on October 1st it implemented by far its largest increase of the year with the price of its electricity shooting up by 17.5% and its gas prices rocketing by 18%.
The latest price increase from the energy supplier will make it the company’s price hike fourth announcement this year.
Why are prices increasing?
There are a number of reasons why the price of both gas and electricity are rising rapidly, but here are the main ones:
- The price of gas has shot up on wholesale markets in recent months.
- There has been a lack of wind output for much of the year due to calm weather.
- Two power stations have been out of action.
This is of course a very cursory look at why prices are increasing. For a more thorough explanation, make sure and consult our blog post on the topic of why prices are rising here.
Energy grid outlook
One of the major reasons for the rise in energy prices, and as listed above, is that two of the country's biggest electricity generating plants have been undergoing maintenance: Huntstown in Dublin and Whitegate in Cork.
However, towards the end of October, Huntstown came back online after its maintenance, providing the grid with an added boost with its generating capacity of 400 megawatts (MW).
And while this development was both an important and essential one in maintaining a stable supply of electricity to the national grid, Whitegate is yet to come back online.
The gas-fired Whitegate facility in Cork is another major electricity-generating plant and has a capacity of around 444MW.
The Bord Gáis Energy-owned plant is due to come back online on 3rd December following a further delay in getting it powered up.
Yet despite Huntstown coming back online, with Whitegate soon to follow, there are still significant capacity pressures on the national grid, first and foremost from large energy users such as data centres.
This being said, contingency plans have been drawn up to deal with any potential energy shortages, with residential homes and healthcare facilities said to be prioritised over the likes of those larger energy users.
Switch and save
If you want to make sure you’re not overpaying on your energy bills this winter there’s one surefire way of making sure you’re not paying more than you need to, and that’s by switching your supplier on bonkers.ie.
If you’ve been with your existing supplier for more than a year, chances are you’re likely out of contract, and that means you’re paying the company’s standard rate. In other words, you’re not receiving any discount which you would be if you switch!
What’s more, despite rising prices, it still pays to switch. It's quick and easy to do so on bonkers.ie and the average customer could save almost €600 a year on their bills!
If you’re still in contract however you can still switch, and the money you save by doing so might be more than what you’ll have to pay for leaving early. If you’re still in contract have a read of this article on energy cancellation fees.
So what are you waiting for? Conduct a comparison with one of our easy-to-use tools and switch and save on your energy today!
Did you know that you can also compare prices for broadband, insurance and banking products on bonkers.ie? See what other bills you could save on by switching provider!
Read up on energy switching
If you need some help figuring out some of the complexities of switching your supplier, there’s no need to worry as our useful energy guides could come in handy.
- Before conducting a comparison you’ll need some important information. Here’s how to read your energy bill.
- Here’s a quick reminder on how to compare gas and electricity prices here on bonkers.ie.
- You might also find this guide helpful. Here’s what you’ll need to switch energy supplier.
- It’s not always about price however. Here are seven things to consider when switching energy supplier.
To keep up to date with all of the latest energy related news you can consult both our blogs and guides for everything you need to know.
If you have any other questions about the latest announcement from Iberdrola you can contact us on social media. We’re on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
