Wholesale electricity prices up over 56% in July as gas prices surge

Natural gas prices spiked in July following the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran. Picture: David Creedon

Wholesale electricity prices were 56.2% higher in July, compared to the same period last year, as the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran during the month led energy prices to soar again.

Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows while the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel were up slightly year-on-year, by 2.2% and 3% respectively, the cost of electricity is up significantly, along with fuel oil which is up 25.2%.

The conflict between the US and Iran, which began in late February and precipitated an oil and gas price shock, had slowed following a ceasefire agreement which had held until July 8. During the ceasefire, the price of oil and gas started to come down.

The price of gas sank to about €45 per megawatt hour in early July, according to the Dutch TFF natural gas benchmark, down from just over €60 in early March. However, over the course of July, prices spiked again, at one point hitting a peak of €63.65 per megawatt hour.

Gas prices are once again surging this month — as of Friday, it was trading at nearly €67 per megawatt hour, signalling possible further increases in the wholesale cost of electricity.

A similar trend was seen in the cost of Brent crude oil — a global benchmark of oil prices — which dropped to about $72 a barrel during early July before prices spiked again to more than $100 a barrel on July 23. As of Friday morning, prices were back up to $94 a barrel.

Food prices increase

Outside of energy prices, the CSO data showed producer prices for food products increased by 2.7% in the 12 months to July 2026. The largest food price increase was seen in fish and fish products, up 9%.

Domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 4.5% higher in July 2026 compared with July 2025, while producer prices for exported goods were up by 7.6%. Overall, manufacturing producer prices were 7.3% higher in the year.

The largest wholesale increases in other producer prices was seen in chemical and chemical products which was up 16.5%.

Wholesale prices for construction products rose by 3.3% over the last year, with the building and construction index — which includes materials and wages — was 3.4% higher year-on-year.