Electric Ireland has announced it's fifth price hike since the start of 2021.
One million customers will be hit with increased bills on October 1st.
The average electricity bills will go up by 26.7%, while the gas tarrifs will increase by 37.5%.
This is the fifth price rise by Electric Ireland since the start of 2021.
It had announced an 11% rise for electricty and 31% for gas in June of this year, while it also had an increase announced in May.
This latest rise will add around €450 to the average annual electric bill, and over €500 for the gas bills.
#BREAKING
Electric Ireland is increasing its prices for the 3rd time in 5 months 😩
🔥Gas unit rate ⬆️ 47%
⚡️Electricity unit rate ⬆️ 38.24%
🗓From 1 October
💶Adds c. €446 a year to the average electricity bill & €516 a year to the average gas bill.
More to follow... pic.twitter.com/tk7OwC1ZUB— bonkers.ie (@bonkers_ie) September 1, 2022
This is the fourth price hike announcement from an energy supplier in less than a week following hikes by SSE Airtricity, Community Power, and PrepayPower.
Commenting on the news, Daragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at bonkers.ie says: "To say these are unprecedented times is an understatement. Price increases of this frequency and this magnitude are clearly unsustainable.
"During the last energy crisis in the ‘70s, the price of oil increased by around 400% on wholesale markets. We now have gas up by over 1,000%. That shows you the scale of the crisis we’re looking at.
"We’re heading into winter with gas and electricity prices at absolutely astronomical levels. And it could get even worse. The average gas and electricity bill is now around €4,000. That’s close to the UK price cap of £3,549.
"In the UK the price cap is forecast to rise to over €6,000 in January. Over 70% of our gas comes via the UK so our prices track theirs relatively closely (indeed UK gas and electricity has generally been slightly cheaper than Ireland’s in recent years). So that shows you what we could be looking at.
"The Government needs to decide now how it plans to help households over the coming months. Is the temporary reduction in VAT being kept and will VAT be reduced further? Is another energy credit going to be paid? How big will it be? Is the Government going to place a windfall tax on energy companies - and if so, how would this even work when many are headquartered overseas and making money from gas and oil that isn’t ours?
"To truly tackle the costs of spiralling energy prices, action will need to be taken at an EU level. Next week’s proposed emergency energy summit is welcome news as are talks about an intervention in the electricity market and a redesign to bring down prices."
"Challenging Time"
Pat Fenlon, Executive Director, Electric Ireland says: "This continues to be a very challenging time for customers, and an unprecedented time in the energy industry with increases to wholesale gas prices in excess of 700% over the last 12 months and 200% since June 2022 alone.
"It is with considerable reluctance that we are increasing electricity and gas prices again for our customers, which is necessary given the continuing increases in wholesale energy prices, particularly gas. To put that into context, this time last year wholesale gas prices for winter were circa. GBP£1.15 per therm, and as of last week, this winter’s prices were circa. GBP£7.70 per therm.
"We realise these price increases will be difficult for many customers to absorb and we are committed to helping our customers during these difficult times. "We encourage any customer having difficulty in paying bills to engage with us and we will work with them to agree a manageable payment plan."
The Government says it is looking at a windfall tax on energy company's profits - however there's believed to be opposition from Fine Gael who believe it may deter investment.
While, the European Commission says it is looking at interventions as energy prices around Europe sky-rocket.
