Around 100,000 households in Northern Ireland will face a rise of 28 per cent in their gas bills from next month.
Customers of natural gas supply company Phoenix Gas will see the average annual bill hit £584 (€727) from May 1st - up £129 (€160) a year.
It is the latest in a series of rises to hit householders who have had to endure ever-increasing rises in the costs of food, heating oil and the petrol or diesel for their cars.
Phoenix general manager David Strahan said the increase was due world wholesales prices which were driven by the rise in the price of oil.
"Phoenix, like all energy companies across the UK, is experiencing record high wholesale gas costs which account for 60 per cent of our price," he said.
"We have been able to hold our price at the current reduced level throughout the peak winter heating period, when customers use most gas, but in the face of such large increases in wholesale gas costs, we have no alternative but to review our prices."