As we head into the darker and colder days of the year, energy bills are going to start climbing and people will be wondering if they are getting good value for money or are if they are being gouged by suppliers.
They might also find themselves asking what they can do to stop the cost of heating and lighting their homes going through the roof.
First things first. Are we being ripped off when it comes to electricity and gas?
That is a big question. We are certainly paying more for heat and light than folk in many other countries. Speaking in the Dáil earlier this week, the Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, accused suppliers of price gouging and the Government of doing nothing to help.
But the Government did help when it came to prices, didn’t it?
It did, but that sentence is very much in the past tense. Between April 2022 and February 2025, there were nine energy credits worth €1,500 given to Irish domestic energy customers. The measures costalmost €3 billion and that high cost might explain why there was absolutely nothing by way of credits for anyone in the recent budget.
And earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin suggested that if more credits had been included in Budget 2026 or if such credits had become a permanent rather than one-off measure, energy companies would simply have factored them into their prices.
And is there anything to stop energy companies doing such a duplicitous thing or charging us what they want?
Not as it stands, no. The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities is the State agency that oversees the sector, but it has no role in pricing and cannot impose caps on what private – or even semi-private – companies charge.
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And they are charging us more than they need to?
It’s complicated. According to data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, electricity prices in Ireland are the third most expensive in the EU and almost 30 per cent above the average, with only Germans and Danes paying more to heat and light their homes.
The net price of electricity before taxes are applied sees Ireland leapfrog those two countries as the VAT rate here is 9 per cent compared to the rate of around 20 per cent on electricity in other EU countries.
The higher prices mean Irish households are paying around €350 more a year for electricity compared to other EU countries. We also know that the retail price of energy here is three times higher than the wholesale price, with the difference between the two prices much higher here than in other countries in the EU.
Well that’s not good. How much are we paying?
According to Daragh Cassidy, of price comparison and switching website bonkers.ie, Irish wholesale prices are about €100 per MWh or around 10 cent per kWh. By contrast, our retail prices are around 30 to 35 cent per kWh so we are paying three times more than the wholesale price.
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Why are we paying so much more?
It is important to note that the 30-35 cent per kWh is the standard unit rate. People who are on discounted rates – most of those who make a point of looking at switching regularly – pay a lot less than that.
“The other point,” says Cassidy, “is that grid fees for the upkeep of the electricity network are also very high in Ireland due to our dispersed population, and probably add around another five or six cent per kWh to the price of electricity.
“Imperfection charges and capacity market charges have also been increasing in recent years. These understandably don’t get a lot of attention in the press but, without getting too technical, these help balance the grid and ensure there’s a safe and secure supply of electricity at all times.
These add around four cent to prices per kWh. These charges are much higher in Ireland than in most other countries, largely due to our small size and the high level of wind on the system.”
With VAT and “a few cent for the suppliers to get their margin too, you can see how it all adds up and is not quite the rip-off many might think”.
Okay, but prices are still higher than they used to be, right?
They certainly are, although they are also lower than they used to be. It depends on your reference point. In 2020, a typical Irish home might have expected to pay around €2,000 a year for energy.
In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the annual cost jumped to over €4,000 and right now it is around €3,200 – so, higher than it was in 2020 but lower than it was in 2023.
And what are the companies doing?
“There’s been a fair bit of movement in the energy market over the past few weeks, with some suppliers hiking their prices, some announcing price freezes and others even reducing their prices,” Cassidy says.
Flogas, SSE Airtricity, Bord Gáis Energy, Pinergy and Energia all increased electricity prices by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent on average, which will add around €200 to the average annual bill for their customers.
On the flip side, Yuno Energy, Prepaypower and Electric Ireland have announced that they’re freezing their electricity prices for the next few months at least.
All suppliers have kept their gas prices on hold for now and Electric Ireland is even cutting its gas prices by 4 per cent from November 1st.
What does all this mean?
“I’d argue that this shows that there is at least some competition in the market,” Cassidy says. “It’s good that not every supplier is following the other and doing the exact same thing. Though obviously it would be better if all suppliers were cutting their prices.”
With the removal of the €250 energy credit, a hike in the carbon tax in the budget and an increase in electricity prices from some suppliers, many households are looking at paying at least €470 a year more for their energy over the coming year. So it’s never been more important for households to get the best deal possible for their needs.
So, how can I save money?
Switching is the big thing. Most companies offer discounts to new customers, but those discounted rates are only in place for 12 months after which customers return to the standard unit rate. That means that to people have to switch supplier every year.
“Even if your current supplier is keeping its prices on hold, it may still be cheaper to switch to a supplier that has increased its prices as you’ll get a new customer discount of up to 30 per cent or more for a year when you switch,” Cassidy says.
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And what is going to happen to energy prices in the months ahead?
“Trying to forecast energy prices is almost like trying to forecast the weather; anything more than a week or two in advance feels a bit like a guessing game,” says Cassidy.
But how could it be so unpredictable? Surely we know how much oil and gas is being produced globally and can make price judgments on that basis?
Ah, if only it were that simple. An outbreak of unusually cold weather or wider geopolitical conflicts will negatively impact on prices, and who can predict if and when there might be another global pandemic to send prices tumbling for an extended spell?
“But at the moment the outlook looks relatively benign. I don’t see any further increases over the coming months,” says Cassidy. “But I don’t see a huge scope for major cuts either.”
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What steps can I take independently of the providers?
Heating your home typically accounts for around 60 per cent of a domestic energy bill. Heating hot water is about 20 per cent and electricity is about 20 per cent. There might be some variations in the 60/20/20 rule, but they are small.
Given that heating is the biggest drain on our resources – financial as well as natural – that is where to start.
Think about how you are using your heat, what you are heating and when. Turn your heat off a full 30 minutes before you plan to leave a room or your house or go to bed and turn it on 30 minutes before you plan to return or get up in the morning. Even the most basic of systems come with timers and thermostats, so it should be easy to manage.
Knocking just one or two degrees off your thermostat can add up to significant savings. And remember that zonal heating is key. Turn off or turn down the heat in the rooms you are not in. There is no point, for example, in heating a home office if you leave it at 6pm and don’t return to it until 9am; if bedrooms are not in constant use, make sure they are not being constantly heated.
What are the savings?
If you get the timing, temperature and location of your heating right you could save around 10 per cent on the cost of energy, and that works out at more than €300 for most Irish households. Any by being more judicious about how your heat your water and use it, you could save another 5 per cent, or €150.
