PREPAYPOWER HAS BECOME the latest energy firm to announce it is increasing its prices.

The pay-as-you-go energy supplier said it is increasing electricity prices by 19% and gas by 29%. The increases will kick in from 1 October.

It is expected that the changes will increase the cost on average by €6.53 (electricity) and €8.24 (gas) per week.

In a statement, PrepayPower said it continues to work to protect its customers from the worst effects of surging wholesale energy costs. It said that Irish wholesale electricity and gas prices have risen ten times their historic norm over the last 18 months.

Speaking today a spokesman said; “Regrettably, surging international wholesale costs make customer price increases inevitable. Were it not for our extensive hedging operations, these increases would have had to be significantly higher.

“We continue to work hard to protect customers to the greatest extent possible from the impact of these international developments.”

The price of wholesale electricity is now 86% higher than it was a year ago, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Figures from the CSO show there was an increase in the price of wholesale electricity in July, with prices 47% higher than the previous month. The price of electricity is now 86.3% higher than in July 2021.

Overall the Energy Products Index followed the same trend, going up by 37% since June 2022, and up 77.6% when compared to July 2021.

Earlier this month, EirGrid temporarily issued an amber alert warning of low winds and tight margins between demand and supply – the latest in a series of such alerts in recent weeks.