Families face further energy price hikes of up to €300 a year after independent supplier Flogas confirmed it would increase charges in November.
Flogas has increased electricity prices by 44 per cent this year and hiked gas charges by 23 per cent, as wholesale energy costs surged on shortages and post-Covid reopening.
The company said on Friday that it would increase standard charges for electricity by 19 per cent from November 20th, adding €5.95 a week or €309.40 a year to the average customer’s bills.
Flogas will boost natural gas prices by 26 per cent, adding €5.59 a week or €280.68 a year to the average customer’s bills.
Eoin Clarke, managing director of price comparison website Switcher.ie, dubbed the Flogas rise "one of the largest one-off price jumps in recent years".
He argued that price rises made it more important for customers to shop around to find the cheapest possible energy charges.
“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,” said Mr Clarke.
Price volatility
Flogas Energy general manager Paul Kenny blamed unexpectedly volatile wholesale prices for the move.
“The reality is that future supply costs have increased for the next quarter by 56 per cent from where they were only one month ago,” he said.
Rising world market prices for gas, used to generate more than half of Irish electricity every year, have hit wholesale prices.
However, local factors including rising demand, power plant shutdowns and low wind speeds, which hit renewable generators, have been adding to pressure on electricity prices.
Recent figures show that ESB generators last month received up to €385.87 a megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity sold on one wholesale market.
Power plant shutdowns that hit rivals, and low wind speeds, meant four of the State company’s plants had more than half the available capacity in the Republic at various times between July and September.
However, the ESB maintains that the average price it sought for electricity during that time was €122 MWh, 30 per cent less than the market price of €161 MWh.
Mr Kenny stressed that Flogas regretted the latest price rise, but warned that it remained difficult to forecast any medium-term improvement.
“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,” he said.
