Pinergy is the latest energy supplier to announce a price increase, with its latest increase set to kick in on January 9th. Learn more about the latest rise below.
While many of us hoped to get through the Christmas period without another energy price hike, unfortunately that’s not the case.
Today, Pinergy announced that its standard residential unit price of electricity would increase by 18% from the 7th of January, affecting around 27,000 residential customers.
The company said that the outlook on the global wholesale markets “continues to be very volatile and challenging going into 2023” and cited wholesale price increases and regulated market charges as major causes of the latest price rise.
This latest news is far from surprising, given how turbulent the energy market has been as well as recent freezing temperatures that are likely to see energy consumption dramatically rise.
Price rise
Although Pinergy’s unit price of electricity will increase by 18% in January, its daily standing charge and prepay meter charge will remain unchanged. Alongside no change in VAT, the average customer will see their bills go up by around 14%.
This will see around €320 added to the average customer’s energy bill.
This is Pinergy’s second price hike of the year, after it increased its unit price by 18% in September, while also raising its standing charge by 30% and its prepay service charge by 24%.
It also increased its prices five times over the course of 2021, with the average customer’s bills now nearly €1,400 a year higher than at the start of last year.
Wholesale prices
Falling wholesale electricity prices have been in the news recently so many people might be confused at today's announcement.
However, wholesale energy prices are still at an extremely high level. At one stage during the summer, the price of gas was up by well over 1,000% on wholesale markets for example. So when we hear of falling energy prices we need to remember that it’s on the back of prices which were at record highs to begin with.
And while wholesale electricity prices fell by over 50% in October compared to September, they crept back up again in November.
Also, energy suppliers buy their energy for delivery at different times throughout the year, and up to 12 or 18 months in advance through hedging.
So the price households pay for their gas and electricity is usually an average price of the cost of energy on wholesale markets over the course of over a year or so. This is to try ensure households aren’t faced with extreme swings in the price of their energy on a weekly or monthly basis. So we’d need to see a sustained reduction in the price of energy on wholesale markets for several months before we would see this feed through into lower prices for consumers.
Support
As always, if you are struggling with paying your energy bill, it’s also advised to get in contact with your energy supplier to work out an alternative payment plan or discuss other supports.
Enda Gunnell, CEO of Pinergy, recommends to do the same:
“Any customers that need additional assistance should as a first step contact us, and we will also do our best to support them with a range of Winter Energy Supports. Pinergy customers are uniquely empowered with the latest in smart technologies that allows them to see their energy consumption every day and identify potential areas of energy waste to be addressed. Already, we have seen a 7% decrease in energy consumption by Pinergy residential customers over the last year.”
On a separate note, Gunnell also revealed that Pinergy is increasing its payments to microgenerators of electricity who sell energy back to the grid, with Pinergy paying 25c per kWh through its MicroGen plan.
Save money on your energy bills
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Learn more about your energy
If you want to make the big switch, first read our guide on how to switch energy suppliers.
If you’re looking for advice on contacting your energy supplier, have a look at our guide here.
Looking for ways to cut down on your energy usage this Christmas? Make sure you’re not wasting your time as we debunk energy saving myths.
Stay in touch
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