Energia have announced price increase of 10.9% on electricity from 9/10/'25

We really need to the a grip on our high electricity prices. Low income families facing a 200 Euro annual increase is a lot of money. There seems to be no will in government to do anything about it. How many jobs are data centres providing which are contributing to some of the increase in costs.
 
Just to reiterate this point that I posted earlier in another thread...
ClubMan said:
Discount percentages and EABs (Estimated Annual Bills) are meaningless. You have to look at actual unit rates and standing charges and usage patterns in order to get the best deal for your specific needs. Ideally using your actual smart meter data and sites like www.energypal.ie and www.kilowatt.ie.
Click to expand...
 
I have a bee in my bonnet about this, the electricity market is rogue. First off, all wholesale prices are benchmarked to international gas prices... with 30%+ of our power generation coming from renewables, that effectively means we are jacking up retail prices to support wind companies. Secondly, if you go back to 2019-2020 retail prices were something like 15c/kw, now they are closer to 30c but gas prices have tumbled since peaking in August 2022..... this benchmarking seems to only work for increases not decreases.

Then there is the regulator, a misnomer if ever there was one. Their sole concern is the "electricity market" so, of course they want to keep prices high to encourage supply. The ultimate consumer is simply of no concern to them so, we have a government body actively ignoring the citizens of the state...... it is rotten. The high retail prices reflect a quasi-stealth tax, an unmerited subsidy to renewable powergen.
 
jfrank said:
Their sole concern is the "electricity market"
Click to expand...
Not true.

what we do | CRU.ie

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities is Ireland’s independent energy and water regulator. Our work impacts Irish homes and businesses ensuring safe, secure and sustainable energy and water supplies for all customers.
www.cru.ie www.cru.ie

Protecting energy and water customers​

The CRU works to protect energy and water customers, especially the vulnerable. Setting the quality of service standards in energy and water while enabling competition and innovation ensures customers are treated fairly and are at the heart of the transition to a low carbon future.

We provide customers with information about their rights and also offer a dispute resolution service to deal with issues that customers have not been able to resolve with their energy company or Uisce Éireann.

The CRU also promotes customer protection and engagement through targeted communications campaigns which inform customers on how to get the best value and service from utility companies and participate actively in decarbonisation and water conservation.
Click to expand...
 
I am sorry Clubman but having watched prices closely since the wholesale gas spike in August 22, I stand by what I say... the regulator is an absolute joke who is only concerned with feed-in to the grid and expects a competitive retail market to sort the rest, the problem is with the feed-in rates... they are neither commercial or competitive.

No point reading me that warm waffly stuff from their "Mission Statement" either, the proof is in the pudding.... we have the highest retail electricity prices in the EU using broadly the same input mix as most other countries (except France which is nuclear)
 
Maybe the other countries have an effective regulator or better still, none at all. Our regulator seems to be solely concerned with maintaining feed-in to the grid.... at whatever price it takes (the retail muppets will pay it)
 
Do we have a right to exit contracts without charge during the notice period of a price increase?
 
jfrank said:
No point reading me that warm waffly stuff from their "Mission Statement" either
Click to expand...
Should I read you the legislation that they operate under instead?

Policy and Statutory Framework | CRU.ie

The functions of the CRU along with its name were changed by the Gas (Interim Regulation) Act, 2002. Under that Act, its remit was expanded to include the regulation of the natural gas sector and our name was changed to the Commission for Energy Regulation.
www.cru.ie www.cru.ie
E.g.:
9BC.— (1) The principal objective of—​
(a) the Minister in carrying out his or her electricity functions in relation to matters which the Minister considers materially affect, or are likely materially to affect, the Single Electricity Market,​
(b) the Commission in giving effect to any decision of the SEM Committee, and​
(c) the SEM Committee in carrying out its functions under section 8A(4),​
is to protect the interests of consumers of electricity in the State and Northern Ireland supplied by authorised persons, wherever appropriate by promoting effective competition between persons engaged in, or in commercial activities connected with, the sale or purchase of electricity through the Single Electricity Market.​
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leo
odyssey06 said:
No, most contracts usually allow for unit rate changes but any % discounts you have should be maintained.
Click to expand...
This really annoys me, they can contract us for a year or more and charge us a fee to leave early, but they can also freely change their rates and put up their prices so long as the discount percentage is kept the same. If we had a decent competition or consumer watchdog this practice should be banned, it should be like TV/broadband etc where if they put up the price mid contract, you the consumer can switch without penalty.
 
Coldwarrior said:
This really annoys me, they can contract us for a year or more and charge us a fee to leave early, but they can also freely change their rates and put up their prices so long as the discount percentage is kept the same.
Click to expand...
From time to time fixed rate tariffs have been offered but I'm not sure if there are any available at the moment. Someone here mentioned recently on another thread that there haven't been for a while.
 
Coldwarrior said:
They reduced their export rate also from 20c to 18.5c, so for anyone with solar the increase is more again than just the 12.1% increase on their smart meter plans.
Click to expand...
So it seems they were subsidising it before this and may well still be. My point related more to the general increaes over the years subsidising the export price though.
 
Coldwarrior said:
but they can also freely change their rates and put up their prices so long as the discount percentage is kept the same
Click to expand...

When I returned to Ireland and needed to pick a plan I was sure I was misunderstanding the offers. What good is 20% off if you don't know the price? 20% off what? And you have to sign up to this with a fee for breaking if they up the price?! So even if you do detailed research to pick the best deal at sign up it could all change a month later!

I don't understand how there isn't more outrage over the way things work, its not like electricity is a optional service.

Unpopular on here I know but I think we would be better off as a society with one supplier, there can be competition among producers for sure and a small few options. I wonder what percentage of people are on deal that is considerable not the best value for them but they didn't either they didn't know how to pick the right one, have forgotten to change after a year or they did make a good choice but the offer changed mid contract anyway. I say this as someone who does shop around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top