Energia dual fuel customers to see bills rise by €180 per year as fourth energy price hike of the summer is announced

Energia has just announced that it is to increase its electricity and gas prices by 7.6% and 12.38% respectively from 1 August. The increase will add almost €180 onto the average annual bill for an Energia dual fuel customer, with electricity-only customers seeing their bills rise by €82.68 and gas-only customers facing a €96.72 increase.

Back in December, the supplier increased electricity prices by 3.9%, or €31 per year. It did not increase gas prices at that time. Energia says its latest increases are in response to a significant rise in wholesale energy costs.

This is the fourth energy price hike to be announced this month, with SSE Airtricity[1], Electric Ireland[2] and Flogas[3] already announcing increases.

Eoin Clarke, Managing Director of Switcher.ie, says: “As we feared, another round of energy price hikes is definitely upon us now, with this latest announcement from Energia bringing the total amount of suppliers who are raising their prices to four.

“Any price increase is bad news, but this latest round of hikes has been particularly high – for example, an average customer who has a dual fuel plan with Energia will see their annual bill rise by €180. This is really bad news for customers who might already be struggling to make ends meet.

“If you’re going to be impacted by these hikes, we would strongly encourage you to shop around for a new deal now. The average dual fuel customer can save up to €342[4] by switching from standard tariffs to the cheapest deals on the market, so this could help to soften the impact of the rises. You could also consider a fixed-rate energy plan. These generally don’t offer as low a rate as discounted variable tariffs, but there is still value to be had, and you’ll be insulated from price increases for the duration of your contract, which could give you some peace of mind.”

Switching is straightforward and free. Use Switcher.ie’s free gas and electricity comparison tool to get started – comparing deals and making a switch only takes around 5 minutes.

For further information please contact:

Maeve McLaughlin, Switcher.ie on 01 517 5922/087 133 2526 or prteam@switcher.ie

Images for use are available on Flickr here.

Notes to editors

[1] Source: Switcher.ie – SSE Airtricity to raise gas and electricity prices from 14 July – typical dual fuel customer will see an annual increase of €140

[2] Source: Switcher.ie – Second energy price hike this month – Electric Ireland to increase gas and electricity prices

[3] Source: Switcher.ie – Third energy price hike this month – Flogas to increase gas prices by 12.8% from 1 August

[4] Source: Switcher.ie – How does Switcher calculate its savings messages?

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