8% cut to Bord Gáis prices

BORD GÁIS announced an 8% cut in its prices, but the ESB said it would not be following suit, although the situation will be reviewed later in the year.

Bord Gáis Energy announced the 8% fall in gas prices, the third decrease for residential customers and small and medium business sectors in 11 months, prompted by a lowering of gas prices internationally.

The reduction comes after the company had said last year that the price of a unit of gas should decrease from February by an average of 8%. It also said the cold weather had led to an estimated 5% increase in demand in December compared with December 2008.

The fall in gas prices prompted opposition calls for energy and transport costs to be reduced, but the ESB yesterday said it did not plan a price review until later this year.

An ESB spokesman said only the buying and selling of wholesale gas prices affected its own prices. “The ESB brought down prices on October 1 last and, at the moment, no review of pricing is planned until later in the year.”

Eirgrid, which manages the energy system, said there had been a surge in electricity usage over the cold snap. A spokesperson said the cold weather had brought electricity usage levels back up to 2008 levels after a fall in usage last year due to people being more economical because of the recession.

Announcing its decision to reduce its prices, Bord Gáis said yesterday that, following approval by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), it would be contacting its 600,000 gas customers to inform them of the reductions.

Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said other energy and transport costs should now be reduced. “The Government should now cut the cost of electricity, road tolls, bus and train fares, and other government charges. It can do this by issuing clear instructions to the semi-State companies and regulators to bring in cheaper prices for consumers and businesses.”

Meanwhile, Flogas said customers savouring the Bord Gáis price reduction could make even greater savings by switching to its service.

A company statement said: “If residential customers move their electricity to Bord Gáis and their natural gas to Flogas and choose to pay both accounts by direct debit, they will get a 12% discount on their electricity from Bord Gáis and a 9% discount on their natural gas from Flogas – a saving of 21% off the combined utility bills, as opposed to 14% off their electricity only if they stay with Bord Gáis for both gas and electricity [as opposed to being with the ESB].”