Newly-raised household gas and electricity prices have been announced by energy suppliers in Ireland on 30 occasions this year.
Householders face paying an extra €340 per year on their electricity bill and €200 per year on their gas bill amid the hikes, according to price comparison site Bonkers.ie.
Some energy suppliers raised their prices four times this year, according to the Irish Examiner. The most recent hike comes from Bord Gáis Energy (BGE), which it says is owed to an “all-time high” cost of energy.
The supplier has confirmed it will increase its electricity unit price by 10 per cent and its gas unit price by 12 per cent from October.
It is not the first time the company has raised prices this year, Darragh Cassidy of Bonkers.ie said.
“It’s the third time this year that it has increased electricity prices, and the second time this year that it’s increased gas prices,” he said.
“When you take all those price increases into account, you’re looking at a hit of around €340 more on your electricity bill and €200 extra on your gas bill — so it’s not an insignificant amount.”
'Skyrocketing' costs
The BGE price hike means 350,000 customers will see an average €123 increase per year in their electricity bills and 300,000 customers face a €100 annual increase in their gas bills.
Mr Cassidy said the increase was expected, given other price hikes announced this year on the back of "skyrocketing" wholesale energy costs, increased demand as the economy reopens and a supply crunch.
In the UK, the soaring price of wholesale gas has seen seven firms collapse since August and led to a warning from the UK government to prepare for the worst.
As gas prices soar, energy companies who have not pre-bought their gas are being forced to pay more for it than they have promised to sell it to customers for.
St Vincent DePaul said it fears the impact of price increases on Irish households in energy poverty, many of whom will have less financial resilience after the pandemic and higher levels of debt.
Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan has said the Government will look at “specific measures” to cushion the impact of the “very significant, but hopefully short-term, problem” of rising electricity bills on those most at risk of fuel poverty this winter.
