LAST UPDATE | 1 Jul 2022
ELECTRIC IRELAND HAS announced increases in both electricity and gas prices from the beginning of next month, citing effects from the war in Ukraine.
Residential Electric Ireland electricity prices are set to rise by 10.9%, which will equate to an additional €13.71 per bill or €165.55 per year onto the average cost of electricity.
Gas prices from the provider are also set to rise by 29.2%, equating to an additional €25.96 extra on an average bill and €311.54 per year.
The provider previously increased prices as recently as May and in a statement today said the “unwelcome news” was due to the “ongoing disruption in the geopolitical landscape”.
“We understand this price increase is unwelcome news for our customers. We delayed this increase as long as we could, but unfortunately, the situation in Eastern Europe and a reduction in the reliability of gas flows has resulted in sustained higher energy costs throughout Europe,” interim executive director Suzanne Ward said today.
“We have seen a very substantial increase in the cost of wholesale gas, which in turn, impacts both our gas and electricity prices.”
Ward added that the Electric Ireland has “flexible payment plans” for those struggling to pay bills and that a new €3 million “Hardship Fund” would be established from the autumn to “help customers experiencing payment difficulties at the coldest time of the year.”
Commenting on the news, Daragh Cassidy of price comparison website Bonkers.ie said the price hikes were expected and that more could come from other suppliers.
“Today’s news was expected unfortunately and given Electric Ireland’s size, it will be felt badly by many households nationwide. We’re heading into next winter with gas and electricity prices at absolutely astronomical levels. And it might even get worse,” he said.
To say these are unprecedented times for the energy sector is an understatement. More price hikes from all the other suppliers are likely to follow and more price hikes from Electric Ireland later in the year can’t be ruled out.
State-owned
In its most recent annual report, Electric Ireland parent company ESB recorded an operating profit for 2021 of €679 million and a profit after tax of €266 million.
With a holding of 95%, the ESB is majority-owned by the Irish State and the Dáil has recently heard calls for the government to do more to ensure bills do not go up.
“Energy companies, as the Minister knows, have posted hyper-profits this year. What plans has the Minister to ask the energy companies to do more to help the State and help citizens combat the ever-rising costs of keeping the lights and the heating on,” Labour’s Ged Nash TD told the Dáil last month.
Nash acknowledged that ESB “is paying €126 million dividend to the Exchequer” but said that “it could be paying more and I think the Minister should demand that it pays more”.
Speaking this afternoon after the price hikes were announced, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the government has “done a significant degree already” in response to the rising cost-of-living and that more measures would be announced in the Budget.
“I’ve consistently said this would be a long winter, so this is not just about one package, it’s about a budgetary strategy; pay, income tax, expenditure and a package that can have an immediate impact on people once the Budget is announced, certainly within this calendar year. It’s a combination of all of that, it’s a substantial of piece of work, it’s not something that can be just done every single month,” he said.
Earlier today, EU statistical agency Eurostat put Ireland’s annual inflation rate at 9.6%, a percentage point higher than the Euro area average of 8.6%
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