How to cut €2,300 off your rising energy bill
Another week another chilling hike in fuel prices – so if you haven’t already snared a better deal, now is the time!
As our energy bills head for the stratosphere after dozens of price hikes so too do the potential savings. Savvy householders can now save themselves a whopping €2,300 by picking the right deal. The market is in a state of flux, with some fairly cheap offers still available. And a huge gulf has opened between the dearest and cheapest deals.
Panda Power is just the latest to jack up prices – its seventh increase in just over a year will kick in on August 25.
As the most recent price-hiker, Panda is now among the dearest suppliers. Others might catch up soon, however, as the deluge of increases goes on apparently unabated.
‘Its [Panda’s] average customer is now looking at paying around €2,000 a year for their gas and €2,500 for their electricity. It’s astronomical,’ said Daragh Cassidy of comparison site Bonkers.ie
‘At the very start of last year, its customers were paying around €900 a year for their gas and €1,200 for their electricity. That’s an increase of nearly €2,400 a year.’
Someone with average usage could be paying €2,168 with SSE instead.
Their full bill with Panda could now be €4,468 after the first year of heavy discounts and cashback gifts is over.
The latest price hike has made energy the second-best potential money saver as we battle to pay our bills – if only we shop around, switch and be careful how we use it.
In previous years, energy featured as low as seventh in our Top 10 list of moneysaving tips. Earlier this year, as power bills soared, it hit third place with €700 in potential savings.
Now the average savings on your energy bill, just for shopping around, is €911, according to Bonkers – a new record.
And you can save even more by adopting energy-saving measures, also seen on the website, or availing of the ever-more generous grants to insulate your home or adopt renewable energy technologies such as solar panels or heat pumps.
If you reduce energy usage modestly, the average bill could be as low as €1,200.
That’s a lifestyle-changing difference in costs.
The first thing to do is make sure you’re getting the goodies offered to new customers only – and taken away after a year.
These include discounts – up to 45% – and cashback offers of up to €350.
We’ve compared prices for existing Panda Power customers because it is the latest supplier to increase prices.
If you’re a new customer it actually has enticing deals including €350 cash and 45% discounts – although it still doesn’t make our top five deals thanks to the recent price jump.
To make all this all the more compelling, there’s even worse energy price pain coming.
‘We are definitely looking at higher energy prices over the coming months. It’s going to be a long, expensive winter for all of us,’ says Mr Cassidy.
‘Gas and electricity prices are already at record highs and are likely to go even higher. As we use gas to generate over 40% of our electricity, the increase in the price of gas will impact on electricity prices too.’
But will our gas get shut down altogether? Ireland has no direct link to the EU gas network. We get ours from the Corrib gas field and the UK network which is supplied by its own North Sea reserves and by Norway.
The UK does import a small amount of Russian gas that could make its way here (it’s hard to filter out) but it would be relatively easy to replace.
However, if Putin shuts off the gas tap to Germany, which seems likely, then it will be ‘in big trouble this winter’, Mr Cassidy says.
‘And Norway may come under pressure to redirect some of its gas towards the continent, which could then impact the UK and us. Large industrial users of gas are likely to come under pressure to reduce use before residential users. But if we have a very cold winter and the war drags on, we could see residential users impacted.’
‘However, I personally don’t think there’ll be a shortage for us or the UK this winter. We’re saved by our geographical distance from Russia. But we’re not saved from higher prices.’
A windfall tax on energy firms – as seen in other countries – could ease our pain.
This week United Nations secretary-general António Guterres described ‘record profits’ of major oil and gas companies as ‘immoral’.
On a visit to the Blasket Islands in Kerry this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin apparently responded by pledging to ‘give examination to the issue of a windfall tax’.
A 10% profits tax on all suppliers could raise €60m, which would translate into more than €30 for every household in the country.
Or it could amount to twice or three times that if targeted at people on lower incomes, depending on the threshold.
However, it’s important to distinguish between energy suppliers and generators.
Mr Cassidy explains that companies such as ‘Panda, Pinergy and Prepay Power only supply energy. They don’t generate it. And these companies are struggling. Other suppliers like Bright and Glowpower have even ceased trading’.
‘It’s different for SSE, Electric Ireland, Energia and BGE. They all generate electricity too [and are doing quite well – even though their retail/supply divisions aren’t].’
Last week Bord Gáis Energy reported a 74% growth in profits.
Note: We’re using Panda as an example of one of the dearest providers because it is the latest to increase its rates and is among the most expensive now. As other companies raise their rates, that may change.
The comparison is with a customer whose ‘sweet deal’ has run out and now faces much dearer bills as they would with most energy companies when they don’t switch at the end of the contract.