ENERGIA CUSTOMERS CAN expect upcoming gas and electricity bills to increase dramatically as the firm has announced fresh price hikes.

The prices are set to increase from 7 october and will see gas customers facing bills that are 39% higher, while electricity customers pay 29% more.

Dual fuel customers will face a rise of 33%, which, the company said, will amount to an average of €19.84 per week.

The average increase for gas bills was calculated to be €10.02 per week and for electricity bills it was €9.82 per week. 

The firm said there will be no increase to night rates for those customers on Smart tariffs.

Energia is the sixth energy supplier to increase its prices in recent weeks. The utility company laid the blame for the price rises on exceptionally high wholesale market costs.

It said the wholesale market cost of gas and electricity have increased over 650% and 195% respectively since August 2021.

It said government intervention is “urgently required to support energy customers financially this winter and beyond.”

Last week, following increases from Electric Ireland, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said energy prices are “off the Richter scale” compared to last year.

Martin said the government would use the budget and the cost of living package to alleviate the pressure on households and businesses.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan said today that customers can expect an additional electricity credit to be paid before Christmas. That credit will be in addition to the €200 that was applied to each household in April.

The European Commission has also proposed a series of measures to control skyrocketing energy prices in Europe.

Gary Ryan, Managing Director Customer Solutions, Energia Group said: “We are acutely aware of the very regrettable impact that successive price rises are having on households and we welcome the Government’s intention to intervene in the upcoming budget to support customers. 

“We will continue to support our customers and utilise our integrated energy business to minimise the impact of increasing market costs but the scale of wholesale cost increases to date far exceed our ability to maintain current customer price structures. 

“We recognise the difficulty these increases will present for many households. We urge any customers experiencing financial difficulties to contact us and we commit to working on an individual and flexible basis.”  

Energia said it is also providing supports to assist customers who may be experiencing financial difficulty.

These include extending financial supports to assist financially vulnerable customers and the provision of flexible payment plans to customer support agencies.

EU action

European energy ministers are to meet on Friday to discuss action on spiralling energy costs, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she had proposed a series of measures, including a price cap.

“We are facing an extraordinary situation, because Russia is an unreliable supplier and is manipulating our energy markets,” she warned.

“Our unity and our solidarity will ensure that we will prevail,” she added.

Von der Leyen also said that certain European power companies that are benefiting from high power prices would see a levy on their revenue and profits.

She said this will target firms that are producing electricity at low cost, such as wind or nuclear energy companies, but benefitting from the sky-high prices caused by the war in Ukraine.

Additional reporting from AFP