THE GOVERNMENT’S €200 electricity credit is set to be granted to households across the country, starting in early April.

The energy credit, which is part of a suite of measures by the Government to try and reduce the cost of living crisis, will be applied automatically to all electricity accounts with electricity providers saying that no action is required by account holders.

While the credit is set to come into effect in early April, it may not be granted to some accounts until May or June, depending on the billing dates of a particular household.

It comes as electricity prices are set to rise further in the weeks ahead, with both Energia and Bord Gáis announcing that their prices will increase in April.

Energia customers will see electricity prices rise by approximately 15% or an average of €8.20 per week (€426.40 per year), while Bord Gáis customers will see a 27% increase in their bills.

Bord Gáis and Energia have said that the credit will be applied to their customers between 1 April and 30 June.

SSE Airtricity said that the electricity credit will be automatically applied from 2 April, with bill pay customers receiving the credit automatically. Pre-pay customers with SSE Airtricity will receive direct communications from the company as to how to activate the credit on their meters.

Electric Ireland has said that they will begin the rollout of the energy credit on 4 April. Customers on a smarter Pay As You Go (PAYG) scheme will have the credit applied automatically, while those on the standard PAYG scheme will receive instructions from Electric Ireland on how to apply the credit.

The credit itself includes VAT, with approximately 2.25 million electricity accounts set to benefit from the package.

The energy credit was originally planned to be €100, but due to further increases in the cost of living, the measure needed to be doubled while also adding additional measures to reduce pressure on people.

Legislation underpinning the credit was officially signed into law by President Michael D Higgins on 7 March.

Rental properties

For renters, how the credit is applied depends on whether or not the electricity account is in the tenants name.

If so, there will be no issues accessing the credit. If it is in the landlord’s name and payments are made to the landlord for electricity, the landlord should pass the savings down to the tenant.

Ann-Marie O’Reilly, Policy Officer at Threshold said that any renters who are moving house during the period where the credit is applied may need to work out payment contributions on a “pro-rata basis”.

“Renters moving house during this period may need to calculate their contribution to the bill on a pro-rata basis; however, this will vary from tenancy to tenancy, depending on the arrangements in place,” said O’Reilly.