Households in line for energy price cuts of up to 20pc

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that wholesale electricity prices were down 40pc last month over the past year.

The wholesale cost of electricity is now €87 per megawatt hour, a fall of 78pc since its peak at the height of the crisis in the autumn of 2022.

While there was a slight rise in wholesale prices in March, the market has remained steady.

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However, Daragh Cassidy of price comparison site Bonkers.ie, said not all of the wholesale price increase was passed on in the first place.

He said: “Wholesale electricity prices remained largely steady in March and close to the three-year lows that were reached in February. Wholesale prices are now a fraction of what they were at the height of the energy crisis.

“However, despite the recent large falls, wholesale prices are still around double pre-energy crisis levels.”

Mr Cassidy said that given where wholesale prices currently are, it is highly likely we will get another round of price cuts in the second half of this year of between 10pc and 20pc.

This comes on the back of two rounds of price cuts introduced since last September that have slashed energy bills by around 20pc to 25pc.

New electricity provider Yuno Energy has announced four cuts in its prices this year.

However, households face uncertainty around whether the Government will go ahead with energy credits again next winter.

Mr Cassidy encouraged anyone who is not on an energy contract to consider switching supplier.

Figures released last week by the energy regulator, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), show that savings of up to €500 a year can be made from switching rates.

Mr Cassidy said: “Anyone on standard rates will be paying around 37c or 38c per kilowatt hour, including Vat, for their electricity at present.

“But rates as low as 26c to 27c are now on offer from several suppliers to new customers, which equates to a saving of around €500 for the average household. And it’s similar for gas.”

The CRU’s “Estimated Annual Bill Update” for March shows that huge savings can be made from shopping around.

This is despite the fact that gas and electricity prices are still around 80pc to 90pc above where they were in late 2020 and early 2021.

Mr Cassidy said: “Households can save themselves big money by switching.”

He said a household on standard electricity rates with Energia that used an average amount of electricity, and that switched to Flogas, for example, would save more than €500 a year.

The Electricity Association of Ireland, which represents suppliers, said that since wholesale electricity costs peaked in 2022 they had fallen back, but remained nearly twice as high as the pre-crisis levels.

The association said that when the CRU did a detailed analysis of retail electricity prices in 2022 it found no evidence of excess profits in the retail market sector.

It added Irish wholesale prices for electricity were typically higher than our European counterparts.

This was due to our current reliance on gas for electricity production, it said. Ireland also had higher network costs per capita due to our disbursed population.

The association said: “Acknowledging that Irish prices are higher than other European countries, energy suppliers are committed to helping customers who may be having difficulty with their energy bills.”