“This comes at a really worrying time for lots of people."
Flogas Energy has announced another increase to its electricity and gas prices for residential customers from 20 November.
The company said there will be an 19% increase in its standard rate and standing charges for electricity, and a 26% increase in natural gas unit rates and standing charges.
Including VAT, it will mean customers of Flogas will see a €5.59 weekly increase for natural gas and a €5.95 a week increase for electricity customers.
Flogas Energy blamed the increases on months of historically high wholesale energy costs and on continuing market supply cost issues in Ireland.
"We sincerely regret having to make further increases in our prices but unfortunately it remains difficult to forecast any significant improvements in the medium term," Paul Kenny, general manager at Flogas Energy, said.
"We are continuing to work hard to keep our prices as low as possible for our customers and will be continually reviewing our rates as the market changes."
Switcher.ie has said customers affected by the price increase have some options, and can save up to €522 a year by switching to a cheaper deal.
“We’ve already seen price rises for millions of energy customers this year, but this hike from Flogas is one of the largest one off price jumps in recent years," Eoin Clarke, Managing Director of Switcher.ie said.
"Flogas electricity customers will be a whopping €309 a year worse off, while their gas customers will pay an extra €290.
“This comes at a really worrying time for lots of people, with high levels of unemployment many families will be left wondering where this extra money will come from. It also means it’s even more important to shop around and switch to the cheapest energy tariff possible. You could still save up to €522 a year when you switch to a cheaper energy deal.
“The bad news is that this is unlikely to be the last hike we’ll see this winter, wholesale prices have been climbing rapidly in recent weeks and many energy companies have been left feeling the squeeze.”
