COST OF LIVING CRISIS
HOUSEHOLDS facing gas and electricity price hikes from October 1 are being urged to submit meter readings to ensure they are charged for their usage at the correct rate.
Electric Ireland is increasing residential electricity bills by 26.7 per cent and gas bills by 37.5 per cent from October 1.
Standing charges have not increased. The price hikes will add €37.20 per month to the average residential electricity bill and €42.99 per month to the average residential gas bill.
The move will impact around 1.1 million electricity customers and 150,000 gas customers.
It is the third time Electric Ireland increased its prices in five months.
A spokeswoman for Electric Ireland said: “Electric Ireland customers who wish to submit a meter reading for electricity or gas can do so online, by logging into their account online at electricireland.ie.
“Usage will be charged at the applicable rate at the time of use.”
Similarly, Bord Gais Energy is increasing its gas and electricity prices for the second time this year from October 2.
The price hikes affect 350,000 electricity customers and 300,000 gas customers.
The unit price of its electricity by 45.7 per cent and the unit price of its gas by 48.6 per cent from October 2. The standing charge is not increasing.
The increases will add around €579 a year to the average customer’s electricity bill and €526 to their gas bill.
Calculations
A spokesman for Bord Gais Energy said: “We are actively encouraging customers to submit meter readings.
“A key thing for customers to be aware of is that their bill is automatically fairly calculated to recognise a price change that might occur in their billing cycle.
“Where a price change happens on a day midway in a customer bill cycle, the billing system will split the bill accordingly to reflect the old and the new rates.
“Where a billing period has two different rates, then the bill is split based on a pro-rata basis to ensure the correct rates [be they higher or lower] are applied to that portion of the bill.”