Price hikes are on the way for electricity and gas, with SSE Aitrticity set to increase consumer costs from April 2nd 2025.

The company, which is one of Ireland’s biggest providers, has said electricity prices will be raised by 12.75%, while gas rates will go up by 10.5%.

This will add around €170 a year to customer’s electricity bills, and €114 a year in gas bills.

Head of communications at bonkers.ie Darragh Cassidy told The Hard Shoulder that there are two main reasons for this increase.

“The first main reason is that the wholesale price of energy has begun to creep back up,” he said.

“Now, it’s not at the levels it was at the height of the energy crisis two or three years ago, but in Ireland, the wholesale price of electricity in January reached its highest level in just over two years.”

Man with many bills or invoices and no money. Alamy 2024

Mr Cassidy said that this is due to “jitters” around the war in Ukraine, as well as the end of a transit deal between Ukraine and Russia at the start of the year.

“Also, there was a little bit of a mini cold snap in Europe – and indeed in Ireland as well – at the start of the year, and that as well caused gas reserves to fall," he said.

“So, it left markets jittery and prices began to go back up, unfortunately.”

According to Mr Cassidy, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) also sanctioned an increase in grid fees for the upkeep of gas and electricity networks, so these costs are likely now being passed onto customers.

Other providers

Comsumer columnist with the Irish Examiner Catriona Redmond told the show that it is unclear how many other providers will follow suit.

“If you take a look at a number of the providers in the market at the moment you’ll have noticed... that the discounts they’ve been offering to new consumers and loyalty rates have been slowly decreasing over the last month or two months,” she said.

“So, maybe they have been clawing it back internally rather than externally - but it’s going to be interesting to see now if all of the other providers follow suit.

“Obviously, SSE are one of the larger suppliers in Ireland, so there is always that chance.”

Ms Redmond said it is likely that network costs related to Storm Éowyn will be passed onto customers by the ESB at some point in the future.

Workers clearing a fallen tree on Grove Park Drive in Dublin as ESB networks continue to reconnect homes and businesses across the country after Storm Eowyn wreaked havoc throughout the country. Picture date: Sunday January 26, 2025. Image: PA Images / Alamy

She said that even if peace was to be guaranteed for Ukraine, it would not mean that prices would fall again.

“Most of the energy companies operate a practice of hedging, which is a way of buying energy in advance and trying to insulate them from price increases and decreases,” Ms Redmond said.

“If the prices do start to go down, do they go down for long? Do they start to go back up? It’s very difficult for the people who buy the energy futures to be sure of that at the moment.

“In the political climate at the moment, between the ruminations from Trump on the American side and then Putin on the Russian side, it’s still unclear what way things are going to go.”

Ms Redmond said this is a “period of uncertainty” for consumers.

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Main image: Light bulb and the euro money. Image: Jiri Hera / Alamy. 29 August 2022