More than 600,000 Irish customers to benefit as Bord Gáis cuts prices by 15.5%
Electric To Ireland, The Reductions, Bord Ireland's With Sse Last Also Follow Of Price And Big Four Airtricity Announced Recent Suit Energia Suppliers Gáis
Bord Gais has become the latest energy provider to cut prices which are set to benefit more than 600,000 Irish customers.
Coming into effect on November 9th, the cuts will see prices reduced by 15.5% for both electricity and gas prices, which, for dual-fuel customers, will equate to up to €631 per year in savings.
Standing charges on both fuels have also been reduced by 15.5%.
Once implemented, the average gas bill will fall to €1,607, a saving of €274, with the average electricity bill decreasing to €1,948, a saving of €357.
One of the largest energy suppliers in the Irish market, Bord Gáis - owned by British company Centrica - is the seventh supplier to introduce price cuts.
Last week, Flo Gas introduced cuts of 30% for its electricity and natural gas unit rates as well as reductions in its standing charges, marking one of the biggest reductions announced by energy companies in the Irish market.
Electric Ireland, SSE Airtricity and Energia also announced recent price reductions, with Bord Gáis the last of Ireland's big four suppliers to follow suit after sustained criticism and repeated calls from the Government to lower prices.
Energia announced reductions of up to 20% for residential customers effective from October 3, while SSE Airtricity will decrease its residential prices by up to 12% from the 1st of November.
In addition, Electric Ireland also announced price cuts of up to 12% from November, with PrePayPower decreasing its unit rates by up to 13.5%.
However, prices may increase again across energy suppliers following a surge in wholesale prices last month, with European wholesale gas prices spiking by 25% in early August.
The sudden increases were driven by fears over supplies of liquefied natural gas from Australia which are threatened by strike vote, experts said, and come despite European storage levels for next winter already filling rapidly.
Prices for the Irish wholesale gas which in large part comes from the North Sea are determined by the UK futures market, but that market is in turn influenced by the continental European market.
"Today we are announcing a reduction in our gas and electricity unit rates of 15.5%," said Bord Gáis Managing Director, Dave Kirwan.
"Importantly, we are also reducing our standing charges by the same amount for all residential customers."
"We know energy costs have been hugely challenging for customers over the past two years. Whilst the energy market remains uncertain and volatile, we are happy to be in the position to pass on these reductions to our customers today.”
The price cuts come after pressure was put on suppliers following a fall in wholesale prices earlier this summer to their lowest point in two years.
Despite this, wholesale gas prices still remain around 300% higher than they were in 2020, meaning that while prices are falling, they are falling from extremely high levels.
"So it’ll still be a very expensive winter to heat and light our homes," Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie, Daragh Cassidy told the
Bord Gáis' price cuts follow meetings between Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar and Ireland's big four energy suppliers last week to address “persistently high” energy prices.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Varadkar said recent price cuts were "not enough," adding that people will see companies bring their prices down, with the Government using the upcoming Budget to help people with their energy costs.