LAST UPDATE | 20 Feb 2023

PAY AS YOU go energy provider Pinergy has become the first energy supplier in Ireland to drop its prices since rates began to rise in 2020, which lead to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien stating that other companies should “follow suit”.

The change, which kicks in on 31 March, will result in a 7.1% decrease to the typical household cost. This is equivalent to €183 annually in an estimated bill. 

“It’s welcome that Pinergy have done that. We’ve seen the wholesale energy prices drop over the last number of months and it’s about time those decreases were passed on to customers,” O’Brien told reporters today.

“I think the other electricity providers, and indeed energy providers, are sure to follow what Pinergy have done.”

The planned decrease comes after Pinergy last increased its prices by 14% on 9 January, adding an estimated €320 to bills annually. 

That was the the second price hike by Pinergy in recent months, after it increased the cost of electricity to its customers by 19.2% in September.

Pinergy offer both pay-as-you-go and monthly billing for electricity.

“We had previously committed to reducing electricity prices when circumstances and market conditions allowed,” Pinergy CEO Enda Gunnell said. 

“With recent reductions in the wholesale costs of electricity, we are now pleased to be able to announce this price decrease. However, the outlook on global wholesale markets continues to show inflated and volatile pricing over the medium term,” Gunnell said. 

“The energy crisis has not gone away, and market reforms of the energy sector are still urgently required,” he added.

Daragh Cassidy, head of communications for bonkers.ie, said that Pinergy’s announcement is “obviously welcome news and yet another sign of some normality returning to the energy market”. 

“However, Pinergy’s electricity prices were among the highest in the market before today’s announcement,” he said. 

“This reduction now makes them one of the cheaper suppliers – if you could use that word in today’s market – but its prices are still around 8% above Electric Ireland’s, the biggest electricity supplier in the market,” he added. 

It was announced earlier this month that electricity customers will receive a €89.10 payment toward their bills in the coming months.

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) said the payment will be made in seven instalments, either on customers’ bills or on their prepay meter, from 1 March.

In line with a Public Service Obligation to subsidise renewable energy, electricity suppliers will be required to credit customers €12.73 for the remaining months of the 2022/2023 tariff period. 

Small commercial customers will receive a monthly payment of €44.50 beginning in March and ending in September 2023. Medium and large commercial customers will be paid based on their kVa usage.