Electricity rates to fall as market hots up

The newest entrant to the Irish electricity market should drive further competition between utilities and is good news for consumers, according to a price-comparison website.

Simon Moynihan of bonkers.ie said Panda Power’s electricity rates fractionally beat the previous lowest rate set earlier this week by Energia. The customers who switch to the new utility from Electric Ireland’s standard rates can save €160 a year on average.

The Panda Group recorded €95m annual turnover in 2014 and the company has indicated that it will look at targeting its existing 150,000 customers who avail of its domestic waste services.

“Panda Power’s launch comes just after a price drop from Energia, which were the best on the market for a day. Then Panda came along and offered rates that are just fractionally better,” Mr Moynihan said.

“It takes guts to take on the bigger established utilities, but Panda does already have a large customer base to work off in east Leinster, particularly in Dublin and Louth.”

The comparison site says while Panda Power is the best value option for electricity-only customers, Energia’s newly launched dual fuel deal for electricity and gas customers has an electricity unit rate which is cheaper than Panda’s equivalent rate.

Bonkers.ie estimates that Panda Power’s best available urban plan will cost €1,051 a year based on the national average consumption rate of 5,300kWh, which comes out favourably in a like-for-like comparison with Energia (€1,053), Electric Ireland (€1,061), SSE Airtricity and Bord Gáis Energy (both €1,096), Prepay Power (€1,320), and Pinergy (€1,348).

Panda Power, which this week received approval to commence operations from the Commission for Energy Regulation, is offering a discount electricity unit rate of 15.47c, which it says is the lowest on the market when compared to existing Irish electricity suppliers.

The new provider said it will invest €40m in the first phase of the rollout of its electricity supply business, and claims it “will only supply green electricity produced from renewable energy sources which do not impact negatively on the environment”.

Panda Power will outline a series of related developments over the coming months, including adding to its 700 employees and a nationwide consumer marketing campaign.

The company says it will look to expand on the operations of its customer support centre in Slane, Co. Meath, and will provide a customer support service for the new electricity provider.

The EU’s statistical office last week showed that Ireland had the highest average electricity prices in Europe before taxes and levies were taken into account.

Eurostat rated Irish electricity prices the third highest after Denmark and Germany once taxes and levies were taken into account.

It found Irish households paid an average €25.40 price per 100kWh in the second half of 2014, compared to €9 in Bulgaria, the cheapest in Europe for electricity.