PrepayPower announces energy price cuts of up to 13.5%

Move will save dual fuel customers an average of €435 annually, according to company

PrepayPower has become the latest energy provider to announce a reduction in prices, with rates set to fall by up to 13.5 per cent from the beginning of November.

The State’s largest pay-as-you-go provider said it would cut unit rates for gas by 13.5 per cent, while electricity rates are to fall by 12.8 per cent.

The company said that based on typical usage patterns, the reduction will mean a saving of about €435 a year for a typical dual fuel customer.

It comes after Flogas, Electric Ireland, Energia and SSE Airtricity all announced price reductions of between 10 and 20 per cent recently.

READ MORE

The average wholesale price of electricity per megawatt-hour during August in Ireland was €106.46, down 72 per cent from €387.63 in August of last year.

While the price decreases are being welcomed by customers, energy bills will remain significantly higher than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and a cycle of increases saw domestic gas and electricity bills double for most households.

Last week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called on energy companies to further reduce their prices.

Welcoming the cuts to this point, he said he didn’t “think it is going to be enough”, adding that he planned to meet energy firms in the coming weeks and put to them his view “that there should be further reductions over the next few months” if wholesale prices continue to fall.

He said a windfall tax on the high profits of energy companies would give the Government “some scope to do things in the winter time to help householders with their bills”.

“That will be done in both a universal and targeted manner,” he added.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor and cohost of the In the News podcast