Prepay Power announces its third price rise of the year

From October 1, 170,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers will face rises of 19% and 29%, respectively. File photo

Energy company Prepay Power has announced its latest price hikes, adding around €340 a year extra to electricity costs and €430 to gas costs.

From October 1, 170,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers will face rises of 19% and 29%, respectively.

This will be the third time that Prepay Power has increased its prices this year following previous rises that took effect on July 1 and April 1. Electricity had already risen by almost 10% and gas by 19% in the July hike.

It's believed this rise could have a large impact on lower-income families, who would tend to opt more for pre-payment meters. 

The price increase was expected and comes after a major hike announced last week by SSE Airtricity which is also due to kick in at the beginning of October. Experts have warned that more price rises from other suppliers are “almost a certainty”.

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Darragh Cassidy, the head of the consumer group, Bonkers.ie, said: “Since the start of last year, some suppliers have announced even bigger price hikes that have added over €2,500 to households’ annual gas and electricity bills,” he said. “It’s astronomical.” 

Prepay Power blamed the “continued upward price pressure on international energy markets” for the latest increase.

“Regrettably, surging international wholesale costs make customer price increases inevitable,” a company statement said.

“We continue to work hard to protect customers to the greatest extent possible from the impact of these international developments."

The energy regulator says that prepay plans can help customers to budget for their energy costs as the payment is made upfront but “may not be suitable” for some vulnerable customers as they may self-disconnect if they don’t top up their meters.

As part of measures announced to protect customers this winter, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities have said customers with a financial hardship meter will have to be placed on the cheapest tariff available from their supplier.