new energy firm raises bills by 11%
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ENERGY firm Panda Power is pushing up electricity and gas prices from next month.
Dual fuel customers will see their bills shoot up by 11.1%, which means a typical household bill will pay an extra €3.35 per week or more than €170 annually.
For single fuel consumers it will mean their average weekly electricity outgoings rise by €1.91 per week or almost €100 per year.
Gas charges will increase by €1.44 per week or almost €75 annually. But the rises will be significantly lower for customers on discounted plans.
Panda Power managing director said: “Ongoing conditions have made it necessary to revisit our pricing structure in line with increasing transmission and wholesale energy costs which are unfortunately outside of our control.”
Eoin Clarke, of price comparison site Switcher.ie, said: “Unfortunately, energy price hikes tend to come in waves.
“Once one supplier announces a price rise, the rest typically follow suit, so not only does this latest hike spell bad news for Panda customers, it’s a warning sign of things to come.”
Mr Clarke also said customers should look at fixed-rate energy deals which will protect them from price rises for anything up to 24 months.
He added: “This comes at a small cost – these deals are not the cheapest on the market – but are still cheaper than the average standard tariff and offer great peace of mind.”
Panda Energy is one of the seven utilities to have announced price hikes in the past few months.
In September Flogas revealed its second gas price rise in three months.
It will increase its unit rate cost by 9.8% from November 1 which will hike a typical annual bill by around €80.
Bord Gais increased electricity prices by 5.8% and this will add €60 to the annual bill. Its average annual gas bills will increase by €37 after the 4.7% rise. Energia’s price hike from August 1 saw a 7.6% rise in electricity prices (€83 annually for the average bill), and 12.38% rise in gas price bringing the annual bill to almost €97 on average. Electric Ireland increased its electricity prices by 6.2% and resi- dential gas prices by 8% and the average customer who uses both gas and electricity would pay €100 a year.
SSE Airtricity announced hiked electricity and gas prices by 6.3% and 12.3% respectively in June.
Pinergy increased its prices by 9.38% which would mean an average customer would have to pay an extra €72 a year on their electricity bill.