If you're with Electric Ireland, it's worth taking note.
Electric Ireland has announced that it will increase residential electricity prices by 4% but will defer applying this increase until 1 February 2018, thus protecting customers from the impact of rising energy costs this winter.
It will add around €35 to the average annual Electric Ireland bill.
Jim Dollard, Executive Director Electric Ireland commented: “Electric Ireland is acutely conscious of the financial pressures facing our customers and we are committed to keeping prices as low as possible for as long as possible.
"Over the past four years, we have passed on all savings as a result of wholesale energy cost reductions and became the first supplier in the Irish market to offer enduring long-term savings of up to 8.5% to our residential electricity and gas customers.
"Against the backdrop of increasing wholesale energy costs, an electricity price increase is unfortunately now unavoidable.
"However, we will absorb those increases over the winter months when electricity usage and bills are at their highest and then apply a 4% price increase from 1 February 2018.
“Given that a number of energy suppliers have recently announced higher price increases which will come into effect over the coming weeks, we believe today’s announcement will help to provide our customers with some peace of mind about winter bills and underpins our commitment to offering our customers the best long-term value in the market. We can also give added assurance that we have no plans to increase our residential gas prices at this time,” Dollard added.
Electric Ireland's increase coincides with the increase of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy which will add an extra €25 to annual bills and will apply to all electricity providers.
The amount of PSO you pay for your premises is based on your Maximum Import Capacity (MIC), which is the total electrical load installed at your premise.
On 1 October 2017, the PSO levy increased from €5.90 to €7.69 per month excluding VAT.
You will now see the PSO Levy on your bill as €15.38 (€7.69 x 2 on a typical 2-month bill).
The PSO is mandated by the Irish Government and approved by the European Commission. It supports the generation of electricity from sustainable, renewable and indigenous sources.
The levy is calculated and certified annually by the CRU (Commission for Regulation of Utilities) in line with relevant legislation.
All energy suppliers are required to collect this levy from customers through bills.
For more information on the increase, you can visit the
Commission for Regulation of Utilities' website.
