Irish consumers are being advised there are still "huge savings" to be made by switching electricity providers, despite across the board price hikes.
Around 350,000 customers face higher bills from today, as the latest price increases come into effect for two major suppliers.
Daragh Cassidy, head of communications at bonkers.ie, told Newstalk Breakfast the new price hikes are “pretty hefty increases”.
He said: “If you’re a customer of Pinergy, you’re going to see your electricity go up by a further 19% - that’s going to add about €300 or so to the average customers’ annual bill.
“If you’re a customer of SSE Airtricity, the price increases are just over 9% on your gas and electricity - that’s going to add around €115 to the average electricity, and around €86 to a gas bill.”
Due to previous price hikes, Pinergy customers are likely to pay an extra €780 more for electricity overall this year, while SEE customers likely to be paying €500 across gas and electricity bills.
This comes after a ‘year of crisis’ for the energy industry both in Ireland and internationally - and customers across suppliers have seen rising bills throughout the year as a result.
However, other suppliers have also “across the board” raised prices - with most companies announcing at least two or three price hikes this year.
Daragh said: “There have been 35 price hike announcements so far this year - and the year isn’t even done.
“These are just the final two to come into effect this year - one would hope that’s it, but nothing can be guaranteed.
“The average customer or average household is probably looking at paying €700-800 more for their gas and electricity.
“But some customers - with some of the smaller suppliers in particular - could see a hit of well over €1,000.”
Switching
Despite the substantial price hikes, people can still switch suppliers - and most energy companies do offer discounts for those who switch over.
Daragh said that could be a discount of up to 30-40% for an entire year - a saving of around €600 for an average customer.
However, those who switch from the more expensive deals to some of the cheaper ones could save as much as €1,500.
Daragh noted: “There are huge savings to be made at the moment by switching.
"If there’s one year you don’t want to be overpaying for gas and electricity… this is it.”
Daragh stressed it is one of the “easiest and simplest” household bills to change - the whole process can be done in just a few minutes online, with the switch usually processed within two weeks.
However, he also encouraged households to find more ways to make their home more energy efficient - such as dealing with draughty areas or making sure to use LED light bulbs.
