Get switched on and grab electric savings
WHISPER it, but it looks like there could be good news on the way over electricity bills. Prices have rocketed 80% in just five years; first the pandemic affected demand and then the war in Ukraine impacted supplies of gas (which we use a lot to generate power), but now wholesale prices are on their way down… quite dramatically in fact.
Wholesale electricity prices fell by more than a quarter in November and are almost 68% lower than in December 2022.
Energy price expert Daragh Cassidy, of utility switching site Bonkers.ie, said: ‘It’s hugely encouraging to see the wholesale price of electricity continue to fall. Strong wind output and – in particular – falling wholesale gas prices have helped reduce our wholesale electricity prices in recent months.’
However, he added: ‘At just under €90 per MWh in December, and with an average of around €110 per MWh over the past six months, wholesale prices are still around double normal levels. And this is why electricity prices for households remain so high.
‘All the main energy suppliers recently responded to the easing of wholesale prices by announcing their second price cut in recent months, which will start to take effect in February.
‘But even after these cuts, electricity prices remain around 80% to 90% above what would, until recently, have been considered normal levels.’
However, he also said that ‘if wholesale prices remain close to where they currently are, then barring another economic shock of some sort, it’s likely we’ll see a third round of price cuts of another 10% to 20% from suppliers in the second half of the year’.
‘After that I’m not sure how much further domestic electricity prices can fall unless we see a further big price drop on the wholesale market,’ he added. Despite the good news, Mr Cassidy explains the devil in the detail, saying: ‘Electricity prices may end up settling significantly above where they were in 2020 before Covid and then the war in Ukraine wreaked havoc with prices.’
So if you haven’t switched your energy supplier for some time, this is the moment to start checking out the different tariffs they all have on offer, and save yourself some money.