People who are coming off discounted electricity tariffs should consider switching if they can save money.
That's the advice from Paul Deane, energy expert from UCC, who was speaking as some 130,000 households are set to be hit with higher bills as they come to the end of discount deals.
He told Newstalk Breakfast there is some positive news in other areas.
"We're seeing some good news for drivers and people heating their homes," he said.
"We've seen a significant reduction in petrol and diesel prices, we've seen home-heating oil come down.
"But the stubborn outlier here is electricity prices [which] are still remarkably high".
'Small print is very important'
Mr Deane said the prospect of electric prices coming down is looking unlikely.
"What happens is when people change electricity supplier, they typically get a little bit of a discount," he said.
"The small print is very important there: that discount only lasts typically 12 to 18 months, then you're automatically revereted back on to the premium price.
"A lot of us were very eager to change suppliers, but we don't always read the fine print.
"This could mean that many of us will revert back to the premium tariffs, which means we will see a significant increase in our electricity bills.
"It could be anything from a 20% or a 30% increase; translating that into euros, it could be anything up to €500 across your bill if you don't keep an eye on it".
'Really easy to switch'
Mr Deane said switching is something that is on the increase.
"That's something we've done really well in Ireland," he said.
"We've made it really easy and really simple to switch your electricity supplier.
"You won't notice any difference; electricity will still come into your home.
"It's all set up, it's sleek and it's well done and coherent.
"It only takes realistically about 15 minutes, and there's some really good price comparison websites out there.
"Go online - all you need to know is your existing supplier.
"If you have your electricity bill at hand, look at the top right-hand corner that will give you the name of the electricity bill, punch that into these price comparison websites and [they] tell you whether you can save money.
"If you can save money, you should really switch".
'Small discounts'
Mr Deane said smaller discounts could be offered as wholesale prices drop.
"If you don't have that option, unfortunately then what we're facing into is - coming into the winter months - is higher electricity bills," he said.
"There is a small beacon of hope coming into autumn and winter this year.
"Behind the scenes we're seeing a significant reduction in wholesale electricity prices.
"Wholesale electricity prices are not the whole price, they're only actually a small portion of your electricity bill.
"When wholesale electricity prices reduce, you don't see a one-for-one reduction in your bill.
"But my expectation coming into autumn and winter this year [is] that we might see some suppliers being in a position that they can offer small discounts to their consumers," he added.
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