Electricity provider Yuno announces fourth price cut as wholesale costs fall
Electricity provider Yuno Energy is showing up its rivals by announcing a fourth cut in its prices this year.
The supplier has now reduced its charges six times since the company launched in Ireland last August.
Its latest cut comes in response to the collapse in wholesale electricity costs.
Recent official figures show that wholesale electricity prices are down 78pc since they peaked in August 2022. Despite this, there have been just two cuts in prices for households from the main players, with consumer electricity prices falling by between 20pc and 25pc.
Research has shown that Ireland has the highest electricity prices in Europe.
Yuno Energy is cutting its fixed rate by 3.4pc, with effect from today. It is the fourth cut this year in its fixed rate.
The new rate applies only to new customers, because those already locked in on a previous fixed rate will not see any change in what they pay.
The new price is more than €500 cheaper than standard rate offers from other suppliers, even after all the latest reductions take effect. It would become the cheapest price in the market, Yuno said.
Yuno is also understood to be responding to the fact that recent cuts from rivals Energia and Flogas meant their pricing was coming close to that of Yuno. The new provider is aiming to be the cheapest in the market.
The company’s new unit rate for electricity is 25.24c per kilowatt hour, including Vat.
This is down 3.4pc from 26.13c per kWh. Yuno said this meant it would have the cheapest unit rate in the market. The total annual cost for a typical customer will be €1,325 a year, which is more than €500 cheaper than the average standard rates from other suppliers.
Yuno’s customer numbers have jumped from 10,000 at Christmas to around 17,000 now.
Yuno chief executive Cathal Fay said: “This is a fixed-rate offering, so it will not change for the year.
“Wholesale markets have increased in the last few weeks and are still volatile, so the new rate we’re announcing might be particularly appealing to those that want to be sure they can lock in the benefits of recent price reductions.
“If you haven’t changed in a year or more, you will save a minimum of €430 by joining Yuno.”
The company is a subsidiary of pay-as-you-go electricity provider PrepayPower, but offers a bill-pay service and operates as a separate entity.
Recent Central Statistics Office figures show that last month wholesale electricity prices fell by 15.3pc when compared with the previous month.
In the last year, wholesale prices were down 46.8pc.
Calculations based on CSO figures show that wholesale electricity costs are down by 78pc since their peak in August 2022.
But prices for households have come down by only a fraction of that.
Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, accused electricity suppliers and the Government of “fleecing” households.
“We are being short-changed. The industry and the Government, with its Vat and other levies on electricity, are taking us for fools. Consumers are being fleeced,” Mr Kilcoyne said.