Energy prices soared as service providers such as Electric Ireland, Bord Gais, Flogas, Energia and SSE Airtricity all announced that customers would be exposed to the increase. Invoices This winter.

As a result of unprecedented increases in wholesale costs and massive demand for gas as economies resume after the pandemic, energy providers are giving up on « unwanted » price hikes for customers.

So far, there have been 31 price hikes for energy supplies this year.

Taking into account all the price hikes from providers this year so far, two of the biggest suppliers have added huge amounts to customer bills for the year.

Electric Ireland customers are looking for an extra €325 on their bill this year, while Bord Gais customers will pay an extra €500 on their average annual household bill.

Dara Cassidy, head of communications at comparison and switch website Bonkers.ie, said households are in for a big shock when their bills start to arrive.

“There is a crisis brewing that families don’t know about and when people start receiving their winter bills in December, January and February, it will affect them severely.

Four hundred euros, this is the average (the increase) charged by the fourteen energy suppliers. They are all in different stages of energy price hikes.

“Some suppliers have had to raise prices four times, and these increases have added €700 to €800 to the average annual bill which is a huge amount of money.

« A lot of people find energy bills, even in the good times, a bit of a struggle to meet, but those increases are going to hit families really hard. »

Here are the latest increases expected this winter:

Electric Ireland

On Friday, Electric Ireland announced that from November residential electricity prices will rise by 9.3% and gas prices by 7%.

This means about 9 extra euros per month on the average electricity bill and 4.85 euros on the gas bill.

This represents an increase of about 108 euros per year over the average household electricity bill and another 58 euros for gas.

This is the second price increase from the power provider after it raised costs again in August.

With price increases in mind, customers will pay around €200 more for electricity and €118 more for gas than they would have paid before August.

Electric Ireland has admitted the fees are « unfortunate » but necessary as the company’s costs increase.

Commenting on the announcement, Margaret Sayers, CEO of Electric Ireland, said: “While we know any increase is not welcome, Electric Ireland remains fully committed to providing the best value to our customers by offering one of the lowest standard unit prices on the market for electricity and gas, At a permanent discount rate of up to 8.5% which reduces unit prices even more.”

She added: « We urge any client who finds it difficult to pay their bills to contact us directly, or the Saint Vincent de Paul Association or MABS with whom we work in such circumstances.

« Alternative options available to all Electric Ireland customers are flexible payment plans, such as the Equalizer Plan, which enables customers to spread their energy costs across the entire year by paying a similar amount each month or taking time off to pay. »

Labor representative David Gardiner criticized the energy provider, saying: « The reason given for this increase is the cost of wholesale energy. This is frankly not a good enough reason. »

board jess

Last month, Bord Gais Energy announced to its 300,000 gas and 350,000 electric customers that they, too, would be affected by higher prices this winter.

Changing the gas price will increase your typical gas bill by €8.16 per month.

A change in electricity prices will mean an increase of €10.26 per month over the typical bill.

This is an increase of about 123 euros per year over the average household electricity bill and 98 euros for gas.

The changes are set to take effect from October 24, and the company has ensured that these prices are kept until spring 2022.

“We regret that we have to go through the price increase at this time, but we have taken steps to protect our customers from further movement during the cold winter months,” said Dave Kirwan, managing director of the company.

Commenting on the news, Dara Cassidy, Head of Communications at bonkers.ie said: “Today’s news has been almost inevitable given all the recent price increases we’ve seen. This is Board Jay’s third electricity price increase and second gas price increase so far this year.

“As we move into the darker and cooler months when energy demand typically rises, many households will feel the pinch.”

Other companies

Not only the major players like Electric Ireland and Bord Gais are also raising their prices. Several other providers have brought in three or four price increases since the beginning of 2021.

Price increases from smaller companies like Energia and Flogas will add a whopping €700 to €800 on annual bills.

SSE Airtricity customers are looking for an additional €300 this year after all the price hikes in 2021.