Further falls in wholesale energy prices must be passed onto Northern Ireland consumers

Unfortunately, consumers in Northern Ireland over the last month have only, at best, seen modest reductions in their gas prices, and increases of around 6-8% in their electricity prices.

Paulino Garcia, Head of Energy Policy at The Consumer Council said, “We have been actively monitoring wholesale gas and electricity prices. The latest Bord Gáis Energy Index shows that there have been significant decreases in the wholesale cost of energy in Northern Ireland. We are calling on energy suppliers to ensure these savings are passed onto consumers as soon as possible.

“Over the last year, we have witnessed a 64% reduction in wholesale gas prices. However, SSE Airtricity have not changed their prices since October 2018, and Firmus Energy only reduced their prices by 8.7%.

“In addition, wholesale electricity prices have fallen by 38% over the last year, however consumers in Northern Ireland have seen increases of 6.1% by Power NI, 8% by Electric Ireland, 5.7% by Click Energy, and 6.9% by SSE Airtricity from 1 October 2019.”

Paulino added, “Consumers in Northern Ireland need to be able to trust and understand the price they pay for their energy. The Consumer Council is therefore asking energy companies to immediately pass the savings of the wholesale market onto their consumers, or transparently explain why they are unable to do so.”

To see the monthly movement in wholesale energy costs click here.