The increase in costs will take effect from next month.
Pinergy is the latest energy provider in Ireland to announce a major price hike, with the company stating it will raise its standard residential electricity prices from 5 September, 2022.
The latest change will result in a 19.2% rise in the typical household cost, which is the equivalent of a €7.21 per week increase.
This means an addition of around €375 a year to the average Pinergy customer’s electricity bill.
In a statement on Friday (5 August), the company said the price hike is the result of the “unprecedented volatile and upward pricing trends in the wholesale energy markets both domestically and globally”.
“As an independent energy supplier, we have absorbed as much of the current wholesale pricing increases as we could over recent months,” its CEO Enda Gunnell said.
“The outlook remains challenging as the global wholesale energy markets face further volatility over the coming months.
“Pinergy customers are empowered with the latest in smart technologies that allows them to see their energy consumption day in day out.
“This winter, we will be urging our domestic customers to make sure they access our App and gather their own insights on their electricity usage.
“We estimate that between 15% and 20% of energy in the home can be wasted. We all know the cheapest unit of energy is the unit of energy that you don’t use.
“We will also do our best to help those customers who may need assistance with the persistent rising energy costs.”
The increase – which it is said will impact around 27,000 customers – is the first for Pinergy in nine months, though the company raised its prices five times in 2021.
According to calculations from Bonkers.ie, Pinergy customers are paying around €1,150 more for their electricity when all the company’s price increases since the start of last year are taken into account.
Bonkers.ie also said in a statement that the energy provider’s price hike had been expected given the continued record price of gas on wholesale markets.
This is largely due to the continuing war in Ukraine.
In 2021, there were over 35 price hike announcements from Irish energy suppliers and the trend has continued into this year.
However, Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie Daragh Cassidy stated that, though the Pinergy announcement was expected, it does not make the news “any easier to digest”.
“As just a supplier of electricity, Pinergy is making no money from generating electricity, so is highly exposed to rising energy prices,” he wrote.
“We’re heading into this winter with energy prices at absolutely astronomical levels and it’s set to get worse.
“It’s likely we’ll see another round of price hikes in a few weeks. To say these are unprecedented times is an understatement.
“The Government needs to decide now how it plans to help households over the coming months.”
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