BORD GÁIS HAS announced big increases in residential gas and electricity prices from next month. 

A typical household’s electricity bill with the supplier will go up by 8.8% or €14.75 per month, the company said in a statement this afternoon.

A gas customer’s bill will go up by 9.3% or €11.67 on average.

Bord Gáis is Ireland’s biggest gas supplier, with around 300,000 customers.

The changes kick in on 9 October, just as households face higher bills due to the onset of colder weather.

Rival supplier SSE Airtricity announced similar increases last week, also coming into force early next month.

Price comparison website Bonkers.ie said this afternoon that the change will add €177 to the average household’s power bill and €140 for gas.
Bonkers.ie head of communications Daragh Cassidy said the hikes are “coming on top of energy costs which are already at very high levels”.

“Gas prices are already around 90% higher than they were four or five years ago while electricity prices are around 70% higher. So any further hikes to energy costs, however moderate, will hit many households hard,” he said. 

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Catherine Lonergan, director of customer and commercial at Bord Gáis Energy, said the price increases were necessary because of higher wholesale gas costs and rising network charges.

She said the decision had not been taken lightly, adding that it was the company’s first increase in gas prices in four years.

She encouraged anyone experiencing financial difficulty to contact Bord Gáis to negotiate flexible payment arrangements and other supports. 

With reporting by Jane Moore.