240,000 customers to be hit with increase in electricity and gas prices
Michael Bolton
An energy company has announced a rise in the price of the electricity and gas it supplies, in a move that it is feared will be followed by other suppliers.
PrepayPower is to increase its gas and electricity prices from June 1st in a move that will affect around 180,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers.
The supplier will increase the unit rate of its electricity by just under 12 per cent and the unit rate of its gas by just over 14 per cent.
However, it is not increasing its standing charge. This means typical electricity and gas bills will go up by 8.8 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively if based on average usage, according to the supplier.
The increase will add around €168 to the average household’s annual electricity bill and €171 to the average annual gas bill.
PrepayPower has cited increased wholesale costs as the main reason for the hike.
Darragh Cassidy, of Bonkers.ie said: "Last autumn, most of the energy suppliers hiked their electricity prices by between 10 and 15% as a result of continued high wholesale electricity costs and an increase in grid and network charges.
"However, PrepayPower, its sister company Yuno Energy, and Electric Ireland all announced a “price freeze” for the winter months.
"This meant that up until now, these suppliers’ electricity prices were around 20% cheaper than the rest of the market. But this was always unlikely to last indefinitely. And to be honest, I’m surprised the electricity hike wasn’t a bit bigger.
"As a result of this, I’d also expect Electric Ireland, which has close to 1.1 million customers, to announce a similar hike in its electricity prices over the coming days or weeks.
"As for gas, wholesale prices are highly volatile, but they’re up around 40 to 50% since the start of the renewed conflict in the Middle East and are around three times the level they were at before the war in Ukraine broke out. Unfortunately, this was always likely to lead to a hike in gas bills eventually, and most of the other suppliers will probably follow with a similar hike over the coming weeks."
