Spanish-owned Iberdrola is the latest supplier to announce its exit from the Irish energy market, following Bright's departure in January.
Iberdrola has announced that it’s pulling the plug on its Irish operations in a move that will affect over 30,000 customers.
So what exactly has happened and what should existing customers know and do in the meantime?
We answer the most important questions about Iberdrola’s exit below.
Who is Iberdrola?
Iberdrola is a Spanish-owned energy supplier. It's a leader in renewable energy and is one of the world’s largest integrated utility companies.
Trading as Scottish Power in Great Britain, and with over 100 million customers worldwide, Iberdrola launched in Ireland back in June 2019 supplying residential energy customers with both gas and electricity.
Why is Iberdrola closing?
Iberdrola has said that its decision to leave the Irish energy market is due to ‘strategic’ reasons following an internal review.
Said review found that ‘market conditions’ and ‘pricing’ were inhibiting the business’s ‘ability to generate profit’ since it was established in 2019. This was made worse, the business said, with the unprecedented increase in global wholesale energy costs.
The company also clarified that its “investment in and contribution to Ireland’s renewable energy future is unaffected by the retail business’ decision to exit from the retail market”.
Iberdrola is currently developing a 3GW offshore wind project, in partnership with DP Energy, as well as battery energy storage system projects.
What should I do?
Iberdrola has already formally notified the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) of its exit, and the CRU has been asked to automatically move Iberdrola's gas and electricity customers to the regulator’s designated suppliers of last resort. This is Bord Gáis Energy for gas, and Electric Ireland for electricity. Dual fuel customers will be divided between the two suppliers.
Customers don't have to do anything and there'll be no disruption to either your gas or electricity supply during the migration period.
The transfer of customers will start from Wednesday 8th June. Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis will contact customers directly after they have been transferred over from Iberdrola.
However, Iberdrola customers can switch to a new supplier of their own choosing now if they want to, and Iberdrola has confirmed that any potential early exit fees will be waived.
Customers can switch to a new supplier until 7th June. After this date, there'll be a 'standstill' period and customers won't be able to move again until 1st September.
A spokesperson for Iberdrola’s retail business in Ireland said:
Despite our best efforts, it’s become increasingly clear that the dynamics and pricing within the Irish energy supply market mean we will not be able to achieve what we want for our retail business in Ireland.
Without the ability to achieve long-term customer growth on both a competitive and commercial basis, we’ve made the difficult decision to leave the supply market in a controlled, responsible and appropriate manner, with minimum impact on our customers.
We’ll be working closely with the CRU, Gas Point Registration Operator and Meter Registration System Operator to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for our customers and we thank each and every one of them for their support over the last three years.
Irish energy market in flux
Iberdrola is the latest supplier to exit the Irish market in recent months, following Bright’s exit at the beginning of the year.
Before that, Just Energy exited the market in 2019 for 'strategic reasons'.
A third supplier, Glowpower, stopped accepting new business several months ago and has transferred all its existing customers to other suppliers.
Our Head of Communications at bonkers.ie, Daragh Cassidy had this to say about the current flux in Irish energy:
At one stage, there were 14 residential energy suppliers in Ireland, which is a huge number given the small size of the Irish market. So exits and consolidation were always likely.
As with previous casualties, Iberdrola struggled to gain a large market share, and the recent energy crisis would only have exacerbated things.
Gas customers will automatically be moved to Bord Gáis Energy while electricity customers will be transitioned to Electric Ireland. However customers may find better value with other suppliers so I’d encourage anyone affected by today’s announcement to shop around.
Unfortunately, further exits from the Irish market can’t be ruled out.
Switch and save on bonkers.ie
If you're on the lookout for a new supplier following today's announcement from Iberdrola, the good news is that it’s super quick and easy to switch supplier and it can all be done online right here on bonkers.ie with our energy price comparison service.
What's more, by switching today you could save over €700 a year on average on your energy bills.
Don’t forget to check out our other comparison tools to save even more! We offer comparison services for broadband, insurance, and banking products.
For more information on switching your energy supplier you can read some of our helpful content below:
- Learn all about the steps involved in switching energy supplier in our Quickstart Guide.
- Find out more about how to compare energy prices on bonkers.ie here.
- Here’s a guide on how to help you read your gas and electricity meter.
- You should also check out these 7 things to consider when switching.
You can read the latest content on our blog and guide pages.
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