Pinergy has today become the sixth energy supplier to increase its prices in response to increased wholesale energy costs. Electricity unit rate prices will increase by 5.6%, effective from December 1st 2017.
Just hours after Flogas announced a 3.3% increase to its gas prices, Pinergy has followed up with its own price hike, making it the sixth energy supplier to do so since late September.
This increase, based on a domestic customer using typical consumption of 4,200 kWh per annum on a 24 hour standard tariff, is the equivalent of 11.2c per day or 3.7% on consumers’ standard household bills. The price increases are due to come into effect on 1st December, 2017.
Why is Pinergy increasing prices?
These price increases are the first implemented by Pinergy since January 2014. According to the supplier, they are directly related to a prolonged increase in energy wholesale costs and the recently announced increases in regulated network charges imposed by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which affect all suppliers. Any Pinergy customers affected by the price change will be notified via their preferred way of topping up over the coming weeks.
Enda Gunnell, CEO of Pinergy said: “We regret these price increases to our customers and have minimised any changes to our tariffs in order to limit the impact. I am pleased to say that we are not increasing standing charges. Today’s decision is not taken lightly and we have held off introducing the price change for as long as possible. However, given the market conditions, it is something we now need to implement.”
He continued: “I would like to assure customers that Pinergy is committed to helping them utilise our smart technology to tackle and reduce their energy spend through more effective monitoring, managing and controlling of their usage. Our experience to date is that users of our smart technology can enjoy savings of up to 20% through more efficient usage and waste reduction, which can more than offset any price increase.”
If you’re a Pinergy customer looking for more info, you can find full details on the changes in tariffs here.
Six increases in 5 weeks
Pinergy is the sixth energy company in five weeks to announce a price increase.
Both SSE Airtricity and Bord Gáis Energy’s price increases take effect from today (November 1st). SSE Airtricity is increasing its electricity prices by 5.4% and Bord Gáis Energy is increasing its gas and electricity prices by 3.4% and 5.9%, respectively. Electric Ireland will increase its electricity prices by 4%, but not until February 1st 2018, and finally, Flogas will increase its gas prices by 3.3% as of December 1st.
How to offset price hikes
Though it might seem like there’s nowhere to turn with so many price hikes going on in the energy market, there are actions customers can take to avoid the hikes and maybe even save some money while they’re at it.
There are now a total of 10 energy suppliers in the Irish market and every one of them is offering some sort of sign-up incentive or discount to switch.
There are discounts in excess of 30% and cashback of up to €175 on offer to new customers at the moment. Average customers will save a substantial €360 by switching today.
Switching it super easy and only takes a few minutes to do so using our price comparison calculator. Compare and switch now.
