Almost 320,000 families and employers were behind with their electricity bill payments at Christmas while more than 171,000 had gas arrears, new figures show.
According to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), the number of customers in arrears with their electricity and gas payments slipped in December.
New figures for the month show that 268,555 households had not paid their electricity bills on time in December, while 47,583 businesses were behind with those payments, a total of 319,968.
The commission’s numbers also show that 163,764 families and 7,833 businesses, a total of 171,597 customers, were in arrears with their gas bills.
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The average domestic electricity customer owed €423 in arrears, while the average domestic gas customer owed €194.
The number of gas customers behind with their bills peaked at 180,163 in June 2024, when the CRU said one in four domestic customers was in arrears. That total fell back to 24 per cent in December.
Electricity customers in arrears hit a high of 331,759 in October last year, when 13 per cent of households were behind with their bills, according to the CRU.
The number of businesses in arrears with electricity and gas bills fell slightly in December, the commission noted.
Fears are growing of a renewed surge in energy prices later this year as European natural gas supplies are once again under pressure following a cold winter with a lower than normal contribution from renewables.
Irish industry sources warn that energy prices could start increasing again later this year if the current pressure is maintained, as demand for gas will increase as Europe bids to rebuild supplies.
Central Statistics Office figures last week showed wholesale electricity prices were 68 per cent higher in January than during the same month in 2024, the biggest jump in two years.
