Two more energy suppliers announce price reductions as wholesale costs fall 40pc

The decisions by independent operator Pinergy and pay-as-you-go operator PrepayPower to announce new reductions reflect sharp falls in the cost of wholesale energy.

Pinergy was the first to break ranks with its rivals and announce a price reduction last year.

It is now reducing its electricity prices for the third time in just over a year.

All the main energy suppliers recently responded to the easing of wholesale prices by announcing their second price cuts in just a few months.

SSE Airtricity’s cut came into effect at the start of this month, while Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy customers will see lower bills from this week.

And last week, new player Yuno announced its third reduction this year in its fixed electricity tariff.

Now the pressure comes on Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis, Energia and SSE Airtricity to announce a third price cut, a move that could see a further 10pc to 20pc in reductions.

Pinery said its electricity prices will come down by 8.4pc from April 1. This follows previous cuts in March and October last year.

It said the decrease will save a typical household €183 over a year when Vat is included.

Its 24-hour standard rate will fall to 33.97c per kilowatt hour, excluding Vat. There is no change to the standing charge.

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Pinergy chief executive Enda Gunnell said the firm was able to announce a third reduction in just over a year for all its residential customers as wholesale electricity pricing has further eased in recent months.

“However, inflated and often volatile electricity markets mean the energy crisis is not going away,” Mr Gunnell added.

Pay-as-you-go operator PrepayPower has announced a reduction in its prices for both new and existing electricity and gas customers.

The company supplies 180,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers. The second cut in recent months will see the average electricity bill fall by 6.7pc for a saving of €136 a year. This includes a cut in the electricity standing charge.

Gas bills will go down by 6.6pc for an annual saving of €111. The changes will take effect from April 1.

It follows a 13.5pc decrease in gas unit rates and a 12.8pc reduction in electricity unit rates last November.

PrepayPower chief executive Cathal Fay said: “We continue to provide competitive pay-as-you-go rates to our customers, including the lowest electricity standard unit rate in the market, after recently announced price reductions by other suppliers, together with our app that allows the customer to control costs and save.”

Figures last week from the Central Statistics Office show wholesale electricity costs fell by almost 40pc in the year to January.

Daragh Cassidy of price comparison site Bonkers.ie said: “If wholesale prices remain close to where they currently are, then barring another economic shock of some sort, it’s likely we’ll see a third round of price cuts of another 10pc to 20pc in the second half of the year as suppliers’ hedging strategies further unwind and they buy more energy at today’s lower prices.”

After that it was not clear how much further electricity prices for consumers can fall in the short to medium term at least, unless we see a big drop on the wholesale market.

Mr Cassidy said electricity prices may end up settling above where they were in 2020 before Covid and the war in Ukraine.