More than 322,000 domestic electricity customers were in arrears in April of this year, according to the latest figures from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).
The figure amounts to 14 per cent of all domestic electricity customers.
The industry regulator said 186,380 households, or 8 per cent, were in arrears for more than 90 days.
The average amount householders were in arrears with their electricity bills in April was €515.77 – up 1 per cent, compared to March 2026.
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The figure of 322,298 households in arrears with their electricity bills is the highest in CRU figures, published on Tuesday, which go back to quarter four of 2022.
In addition to the electricity accounts, 185,940 households were in arrears with their gas bills during April. The figure amounts to 27 per cent of all domestic gas customers. Some 138,066 householders were in arrears for more than 90 days.
The average value of a domestic gas account in arrears was €228.61, a slight reduction on March 2026.
The regulator provided quarterly figures from the fourth quarter of 2022, and monthly figures from March 2025.
April’s figure of 185,940 for domestic gas customers in arrears was exceeded in August 2025 when 186,594 customers were in arrears.
In the non-domestic area, some 13 per cent of electricity customers were in arrears in April 2026, unchanged since October 2025.
Some 20 per cent of all non-domestic gas customers were in arrears in April 2026, an increase of 1 per cent when compared to March 2026.
The figures led to sharp criticism from Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, who said the number of households in electricity arrears was “more than at any point since available records began”.
She criticised what she said was “the Government’s lack of support for households – setting up a taskforce and axing the energy credit” as well as the Government’s approach to supporting big business: “Showering them with new subsidies and discounts on network charges.
“There are more people struggling to pay their bills now than at any point since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
She added: “There are now almost 24,000 more households behind on bills since the Government announced its taskforce talking shop in June last year.”
