Business

Dublin still has highest electricity prices of all EU capitals despite latest fall

Electricity prices almost 50% higher than before Ukraine war while gas prices 72% higher, according to report

Consumers in Dublin are paying roughly €796 more for electricity than their European Union counterparts annually, according to the report. Photograph: iStock

Ian Curran
Wed Jan 3 2024 - 15:03

Dublin remained the most expensive European capital for household electricity users in December despite another monthly decline in energy prices, according to a new report showing consumers were still paying almost 50 per cent more last month than they were two years ago.

Commissioned by the Austrian and Hungarian energy regulators, energy advisory company VaasaETT’s the latest household energy price index indicates that Irish households paid 42.75 cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) including taxes, slightly less than the double the 23.79 cent average paid by households across the EU27.

With households in the Republic using an estimated average of 4,200 kWh of electricity each year, this means that consumers in Dublin are paying roughly €796 more for electricity than their EU counterparts annually.

The 3 per cent monthly decline in December was mostly due to SSE Airtricity’s announcement of a second price cut in three months, the report authors said.

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Effective from February 1st, the 12.8 per cent reduction for electricity customers and 11.5 per cent fall for gas customers may prompt SSE Airtricity’s competitors to announce further cuts, according to the report.

Earlier on Wednesday, Yuno Energy, the State’s newest electricity provider, announced that it will cut the fixed rate for its electricity services for new customers, with an 8 per cent reduction on previous costs.

Other household electricity suppliers had already announced planned price cuts for this year and December bills will be subsidised by the first of three Government energy credits announced in the budget.

However, the report authors said that if the subsidies are excluded, household electricity prices in Dublin were still 47 per cent higher last month than they were in December 2021, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves through global energy markets.

Household natural gas prices, meanwhile, also declined in the lead-up to Christmas, according to the report.

Prices declined by 8 per cent in the month after multiple suppliers, including Bord Gáis Energy and Flogas, applied new reductions to their gas tariffs, “while already announced additional cuts for the upcoming months”, VaasaETT said. “However, the end-user price, including the recent reductions, remains well above the European average and 72 per cent higher compared to December 2021.”

Ian Curran

Ian Curran

Ian Curran is a Business reporter with The Irish Times

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