Rising energy prices could cost consumers hundreds more per year

Rising energy prices on world markets could leave consumers worse off by hundreds of euro over the next 12 months after they have covered the cost of heating and lighting their homes and keeping their cars on the road, industry experts have said.

Last Friday, SSE Airtricity announced a price increase for gas and electricity that will see the annual cost for its customers rise by as much as €140.

If past patterns are repeated in the weeks ahead, then customers of other providers can expect to be hit with price increases too.

"The last time SSE Airtricity announced a price hike, last September, six other suppliers followed suit in the proceeding weeks," said Bonkers.ie spokeswoman, Robyn Hamilton. "Customers will be hoping that this isn't the first price hike of many."

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Motor fuel prices are also climbing and are at their highest level in three years. The pricing website pumps.ie has put the average cost of a litre of petrol at €1.46, with a litre of diesel now standing at €1.35. The prices are around 15 cent higher than 12 months ago and add hundreds of euro on to the annual cost of motoring.

Among the key contributors to rising prices at the pump has been the volatile nature of the price of a barrel of crude oil throughout this year. While crude oil prices have dipped slightly in recent days with a price of $77.90 per barrel, they are up approximately $10 from mid-April.

AA Ireland has called on the Government to reassess the extent to which it taxes both petrol and diesel, as prices continue to trend upwards throughout 2018.

"On the one hand, the Government may look at the amount of revenue it collects from taxation on fuel and think of this as a win, but there needs to be a more long-term thought process here," its Director of Consumer Affairs Conor Faughnan said.

“A history of under-investment in public transport, particularly in rural areas, has created a situation where many people across Ireland are reliant on their car to get to and from work. As fuel prices climb, as they have been doing throughout 2018, these people find themselves struggling to meet the basic costs of their commute and without intervention now, there is a real fear that we could start to see people fall out of the work-force.”

He said the "recent dip" in crude oil costs was welcome news but questioned how long it would last." In mid-May a barrel of oil came close to $80 and, partially in response to this, oil producing nations such as Russia and Saudi Arabia vowed to increase production.

“However, if we want to actually cut workers some slack, then re-assessing our own taxation is a more viable solution than keeping our fingers crossed that OPEC will solve our problem for us,” he said.