Here come the hikes ...second electricity supplier ups prices

A SECOND electricity company has announced an inflation-busting price hike.

Prepaypower is raising its tariffs by 2.9% from October 4 which will add almost €33 to the average annual bill.

The price hike – on the back of Tuesday’s €35-a-year rise by Electric Ireland – is being blamed on increased ‘network charges’.

The Taoiseach has already vowed to intervene and engage with Electric Ireland saying he didn’t want to see families who are already struggling because of the pandemic unable to pay their winter bills.

Prepaypower said yesterday that the increases were due to ‘network related costs which are outside of the control of Prepaypower and which are impacting all suppliers in the electricity market’.

A spokesman said: ‘The effect of the increase for the average customer will be just over 9cent per day.’

It is not raising its gas prices which were reduced by 11.5% in April.

Experts expect other supplicustomers

Truth: The Mail predicting the price jumps this week ers to follow suit in the days and weeks ahead and pass on the increased network charges to customers. One of the problems is that the North-South Interconnector is not complete as electricity demand in the Republic soars but it remains flat in the North.

David Kerr, of switching website Bonkers.ie, said the hike was ‘not surprising’. ‘The latest announcement by Electric Ireland earlier in the week put it down to an increase in network charges so we expect all, if not a very significant majority, of electricity companies to pass on a price change of some description to their in the next week or two. Couple that with Electric Ireland’s announcement which is coming into effect on October 1, add to that the PSO [Public Service Obligation] levy which is going up significantly, 130%, so electricity will be more expensive for all this winter,’ he said.

‘If the rest of the electricity companies – and there are 13 of them – if they all pass on this network charge, electricity will be going up for everybody.

‘So the general message is make sure you’re not overpaying, make sure you’re receiving a discount of some form and make sure that when you do go to a new supplier or a new tariff from the same supplier, that you don’t get the bill shock and provide regular meter readings yourself.’

The new Public Service Obligation levy will be almost €100 and is charged to all electricity customers to support renewable and indigenous electricity generation.

Brendan Halpin, of WeSwitchU.ie, said of the increases: ‘Unfortunately, we will more than likely see similar announcements from other energy providers in the coming days and weeks.

‘However, there is a very simple way for the consumer to put the control back into their hands and that’s by switching provider to avail of the better rates.’

The electricity grid operator Eirgrid expects total electricity demand over the next ten years to grow by as much as 50%, largely driven by new large users, many of which are data centres.

Data centres and large energy users could account for approximately 27% of all electricity demand in Ireland by 2028, according to analysis.

Eirgrid said: ‘The NorthSouth Interconnector remains critically needed for security of supply in both jurisdictions. Generation adequacy shifts year on year, according to demand.

There was no response from Ireland’s three other large electricity suppliers, Energia, Bord Gáis and SSE about their prices.

New levy rate is almost €100