Bord Gáis ups utility costs 2.2% as freeze ends

Thousands of Bord Gáis electricity customers are to be hit with a 2.2% price hike from March as its winter price freeze comes to an end.

The announcement comes on the heels of a raft of price hikes in the health insurance sector and will add an average of €26 to electricity bills annually.

It also comes just one day after Energia announced it was to enter the residential electricity and gas market.

Bord Gáis Energy is the last major supplier to raise its electricity prices following increases from Airtricity in Nov 2013 and Electric Ireland in January of this year.

Bord Gáis Energy said the hike was driven “by factors outside the company’s control”, including a weakened euro and volatility in international wholesale energy costs, which the company has absorbed over a sustained period.

Despite increases implemented by other suppliers in recent months, Bord Gáis said last October it would freeze its prices until March in a bid to ease energy costs for consumers over the winter months.

Managing director of Bord Gáis Energy, Dave Kirwan, said that, despite the price hike, the company would try and keep bills as low as possible for consumers.

“Bord Gáis Energy regrets that any price increase is necessary but the factors driving this increase are outside our control,” he said.

“We continue to work hard to keep bills as low as possible, offering new and existing customers value for money and helping them to manage their energy costs, especially throughout the winter period. That is why we were the last supplier in the market to increase residential electricity prices.”

Mr Kirwan said Bord Gáis was committed to working with customers to help them pay their bills in a way which suits them best, so customers can manage their energy bill.

Head of uSwitch.ie, Eoin Clarke, said there was now a €171 gap between the most expensive and most cost-effective electricity supplier in the Irish market, with Energia now the cheapest electricity supplier in the market.

“With credit to Bord Gáis Energy, they have delayed increasing their prices until now, although their competitors increased over the past few months,” said Mr Clarke. “Bord Gáis Energy now offer the cheapest standard unit rate but they are not the cheapest electricity supplier at present.

“With Energia currently offering a 15% discount to electricity customers and Bord Gáis Energy only offering a 10% discount, Energia is now the cheapest electricity supplier in the Irish market.”

The price hikes comes in a bad week for cash-strapped consumers with a range of other price increases having been announced this week.

Ireland’s second largest private health insurer, Laya Healthcare, confirmed it is to hike its charges by an average of 20%.

Laya’s price hikes will mean a family of two adults and two children will pay between €400 and €1,000 extra per year in their premiums.

Laya’s announcement came just 24 hours after Vhi Healthcare said it would be increasing prices across a number of its plans by an average of 3% on Mar 1.

Another insurer, GloHealth, also confirmed that its prices would rise by €49 for an adult and €14 for a child.