Cash boost up to €250 for thousands kicks in today amid ‘excellent deals’ alert

HUNDREDS of thousands of customers are set to benefit from a major price cut this month.

It comes as the latest price drop on gas and electricity rates at one of Ireland’s top energy providers kick in from today

SSE Airtricity, which reduced home energy prices by 12.8 per cent for their thousands of customers in February, is set to apply new changes that start today.

Customers who are on the variable tariffs will see a 10 per cent reduction in electricity and gas.

This means that customers save a whopping €150 on their electricity annual plan and €100 on their gas annual plan.

Dual fuel plan customers will save €250 per year based on the same price cuts.

It’s the supplier’s third price cut in less than a year and means that energy prices are now 30 per cent lower than they were at the height of the energy crisis two years ago.

The energy price cut has been made possible due to the decrease in wholesale gas and electricity prices.

The cost decrease will automatically apply to all customers on a variable tariff, but those on fixed-rate tariffs will see no change.

It is expected that other main suppliers will follow similar price cuts by the end of the summer.

The standing charge will remain unchanged for SSE Airtricity customers.

Customers on direct debit and eBilling dual fuel smartsaver standard tariffs will benefit from total savings of €998.64 on their estimated annual bill following the price decrease in February and last November.

Darragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie, said: “It’s good to see energy prices continue to creep back towards more manageable levels.

“Yet despite the latest price drop, SSE’s third in under a year, its electricity prices are still around 70% higher than they were before the energy crisis broke out while its gas prices remain around 80% higher.

Muted response

“This means households will still be paying around €1,000 a year more for their gas and electricity than they were only a few years ago. So energy costs will remain a concern for many households for the foreseeable future.

“There’s been a somewhat muted response from SSE’s main competitors so far.

“But I’d still expect the other main suppliers like Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy and Energia to also cut their prices for existing customers by a similar amount over the coming weeks.

Shop around

“There’s been much more activity in the acquisition space however and for those who switch there are some excellent deals and discounts on offer right now to new customers.

“Looking forward, it’s a mixed outlook for energy customers. Wholesale gas and electricity prices still remain around double pre energy crisis levels meaning there’s a limit to how much further prices can drop in the short to medium term.

“Meanwhile the PSO levy is likely to increase from October which will add almost €40 a year to electricity bills.

“On top of this, VAT is due to increase from 9 per cent to 13.5 per cent at the next budget.

“And the carbon tax will go up again. All these measures will negate some of the recent price drops.”