Households hit by fuel hikes as Bord Gáis raises prices
HOUSEHOLDS are set to be hit by price hikes as Bord Gáis Energy becomes the sixth home fuel provider to raise its prices in recent months.
Residential customers will be hit by a 2.3% rise from March 10, resulting in an €18.72 surge in annual gas bills while a 4.3% rise in electricity will see €44.40 being added to annual electricity costs.
The average Bord Gáis customer will see an overall fuel price increase of €63.12 over the course of the year as a result of the higher charges.
It is the second such increase at the company in seven months but is not as significant as the previous rise of 4.7% in gas and 5.8% in electricity last August.
The company said that the price hikes were in response to a rise in wholesale energy costs affecting the market.
‘We have been working hard to hold off raising prices for as long as possible, particularly over the difficult winter months,’ managing director Catherine O’Kelly said. However, she said that ‘increases in wholesale energy costs’ had ‘forced’ the company to raise its prices as of next month.
‘We remain committed to doing all we can to ensure that our customers are receiving the best possible prices for their energy, and we will continue to monitor costs closely,’ she added.
The increase is the latest in a series of hikes in recent months during which Flogas, Panda Power, Pinergy, SSE Airtricity and Energia also increased prices affecting almost all Irish customers.
Price comparison website Switcher warned that given that so many companies have increased prices in quick succession it is likely that the remaining providers will follow suit with further increases.
‘The latest hike from Bord Gáis Energy comes at a time when a raft suppliers have already upped their prices at the start of winter,’ said managing director Eoin Clarke.
‘It’s now very likely the remaining companies will do the same.’
‘Although Bord Gáis Energy’s 4.3% electricity increase is at the lower end of the scale it will still be unwelcome news for their energy customers,’ Mr Clarke said.
He said that the latest hikes showed that ‘this round of winter increases is still in full swing’ and said that almost all Irish energy customers will be left with higher bills.
The site advised consumers to try to cut their energy bills by switching to a cheaper deal, which could save them up to €307, and to use energysaving measures to bring costs down further.
In November Panda Power raised its gas and electricity prices by 11% and hiked its dual fuel bill by €3.35 per week, just a week after gas supplier Flogas increased prices by a similar margin.
Pinergy also increased prices late last year by 7.89% citing the increase in wholesale gas prices.
SSE Airtricity also increased its prices in response to an increase in market costs, raising their standard electricity cost by 6.3% and gas by 6.9% in early December.
From the start of the year, prices at Energia also rose by 5.5% for electricity and 6.3% for gas with increases of €62 and €56 per year respectively.
The increases over the past few months came as wholesale energy costs on global markets have been increasing by around 50% a year.
Some 40% of the country’s electricity is sourced from gasfired power stations and as energy becomes more costly the cost of running stations rises.
‘Winter increases in full swing’