Bills still high despite 40% drop in price

Experts’ concern for wholesale electricity figures

FIGURES show wholesale electricity prices are down 40% from last year’s soaring costs.

But customers are still paying high bills and experts say prices remain more than double what they were before the pandemic.

Figures for wholesale electricity prices show the 2020 average cost per megawatt-hour of €38 soared by 495% to €226 in 2022.

Darragh Cassidy, of comparison site bonkers.ie said the MWH average of €90 is still more than double the €38 before Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He added: “Prices have fallen by around 78% since their peak at the height of the energy crisis in the autumn of 2022.

“However, it’s important to note that not all of the wholesale price increase was passed on to consumers in the first place.”

Mr Cassidy believes prices still will not have fallen to pre-covid levels by the end of this year but he does see “another round of price cuts in the second half of the year”.

The 40% decrease was revealed yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.

A spokesperson said: “Wholesale electricity prices rose by 2.4% in the month to

March but were 40.3% lower than March last year and 70.4% lower than the same time in 2022.

“So there was an increase in the price of wholesale electricity [last month] with prices 2.4% higher than [in February].

“Wholesale electricity prices in March were down 76.6% compared to August 2022, when prices were at their highest since the series began in January 2015.”

Consultancy firm Cornwall Insight estimated wholesale electricity prices are expected to trade between €90 and €100 per MWH into next year.