Yuno Energy cuts fixed-rate electricity prices for third time this year

Company, founded by the team behind pay-as-you-go energy provider PrepayPower, also drops standard unit rate by 8.5%

Yuno Energy, the newest electricity retailer in the Irish market, has cut its fixed rate for new customers for the third time since the start of 2024.

The new rate, which is available from Monday, is 4.6 per cent lower than previous rate and is the cheapest unit rate in the market.

The group said the rate is fixed for 12 months and will not change no matter what happens in wholesale energy markets.

The company, founded by the team behind pay-as-you-go energy provider PrepayPower, also dropped its standard unit rate by 8.5 per cent, making this the lowest tariff on offer for those that have finished their new customer discount period.

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The new unit rate for electricity from Yuno is 26.13 cent (including VAT) per kWh (down 4.6 per cent from 27.38 cent per kWh). The total annual cost for a typical customer will be €1,362 per year.

Yuno CEO Cathal Fay said: “Wholesale markets have decreased recently, but are still volatile, so the new rate we’re announcing today might be particularly appealing to those that want to be sure they can lock in the benefits of recent price reductions.

“If you haven’t changed in a year or more you will save a minimum of €393 by joining Yuno.”

Yuno Energy has more than 180,000 electricity and 60,000 gas customers. The service is centred on the Yuno Energy app. The bill is based on predicted usage for the household. The customer can then see throughout the month how their usage varies compared to the prediction.

Most energy providers have been cutting prices in response to the drop in wholesale electricity prices.

Wholesale electricity prices fell 68 per cent last year as energy costs continued to decline from their 2022 peak, Central Stastics Office (CSO) figures show.

The faster-than-expected softening of headline inflation in the Republic and across the euro zone has been driven – almost entirely – by falling energy prices.

The CSO’s latest figures show electricity prices fell by 27.6 per cent in December alone and were 67.8 per cent lower year on year. The agency’s energy products index was down by 22.7 per cent since November 2023 and was down by 60.3 per cent when compared with December 2022.

Energy prices, which had been on an upward surge in the wake of Covid, spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, reaching a peak in August that year.

Flogas Energy, one of the State’s largest energy providers, cut the cost of domestic energy by as much as 25 per cent in recent weeks in a move that will mean some customers’ gas and electricity bills fall by more than €700.

Electric Ireland, the State’s largest energy supplier, announced it would cut prices for both its electricity and gas customers earlier last month. The company’s second price reduction in four months will see residential electricity prices fall by 8 per cent and gas prices fall by 7 per cent from the beginning of March.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter