Energia announces electricity unit price hike of 33.5% and gas unit hike of 47.11% from next month

Energia has become the latest company to announce price increases with the supplier saying it plans to up the unit price of its electricity by 33.5 per cent and the unit price of its gas by 47.11 per cent from October 7th.

The move will impact some 160,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers and will add more than €500 on to the average annual cost of both its electricity and gas.

The Energia price increase comes on the back of similar increases announced by providers including Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy and SSE Airtricity.

The company has said the rise was due to “exceptionally high wholesale market costs”. The company last increased its prices in April, when it upped the price of its gas and electricity by just less than 19 per cent. It also increased its prices three times in 2021.

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When all increases are taken into account households are looking at paying more than €1,200 more for their electricity and over €1,000 more for their gas each year.

Commenting on the news, Daragh Cassidy, head of communications at bonkers.ie, said the news was “expected given recent price hike announcements from Electric Ireland, SSE Airtricity, Bord Gáis Energy and others.

“This brings to an end this cycle of rate hike announcements. The question is when the next one begins.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the average cost of household gas and electricity jumped by close to €1,000 in the 12 months to the end of August, according to new data from the energy regulator, with the scale of the price hikes made even worse by a fresh round of price hikes rolled out by almost all energy providers in recent weeks.

When those increases are factored in many Irish households will be paying as much as 100 per cent more for their fuel over the course of the next 12 months than they were in 2021.

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According to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, average electricity bills went up by €480 in the 12 months to the end of August while average gas bills climbed by €410.

The CRU said the average annual cost of electricity in August was €1,600 with average gas bills coming in at just less than €1,400.

In the same month last year, the average electricity bill when spread out over the course of a year was €1,120 with the average gas bill put at €970.

When more recent increases are factored in customers who were paying about €1,500 for a dual-fuel service with many providers will be paying close to €3,000 over the next 12 months.