STAYING WARM THIS winter will cost a little more if Bord Gáis Energy receive the permission sought to increase its residential gas tariffs by 7.54 per cent from October.

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) has started a public consultation in relation to the request and it will make its decision in August.

BG Energy told the regulator that the price hike is due to higher commodity costs and network tariffs – and not because of company expenditure or processes. As Ireland receives virtually all of its gas from Great Britain, costs have increased because the value of the euro has decreased considerably against sterling over the past 12 months, it explained in its application.

The CER has said it will only allow the agency to pass on costs to customers if they are “efficiently-incurred”.

In a statement published yesterday, it added:

If, following the public consultation and a CER review, a gas price rise is granted, it would be with regret given the current difficult economic climate.

There have been a number of gas prices rises across European countries since 2010 and recent data from Eurostat shows that Ireland’s residential gas prices are below EU average.

The regulator has encouraged consumers to ‘shop around’ before settling down with a supplier.

Last year, BG Energy received approval for a 22 per cent price hike. Although its tariffs are the only ones set by the regulator, other energy suppliers such as ESB and Airtricity will normally track trends in the market.

More: Gas prices likely to rise but too early to say by how much – Bord Gáis>