Bord Gáis – Consumers missing out on savings

Strident when it comes to justifying increases which are passed on to over-burdened consumers anyway, because of rising fuel prices, Bord Gáis is very silent on how customers can save money.

Two-thirds of their patrons could be saving up to 30% — or between €100 and €150 — on their bills but are not, because they are unaware that there are ways to cut costs, and the company is not anxious to enlighten them.

The semi-State company may claim to be powerless where international prices are concerned, but it is in total control of the advice, or lack of it, of its own price structures.

In this regard it is not very forthcoming.

By simply changing to a different tariff, two-thirds of the company’s 500,000 household customers could save money rather than handing it over to the company needlessly.

This is a way of mitigating the huge increase of 33.8% Bord Gáis was allowed by the Commission for Energy Regulation to impose on its long-suffering customers.

The fact that the company is reluctant to spread this message is reflected in the fact that a mere handful of its customers — only about 2,000 — switch to the cheaper tariffs every year.

People on the standard rate, which the company recommends for obvious reasons, pay an annual fixed rate of €342 in supply charges, whether or not they use any gas, and the gas bill is on top of that.

Generally, a family in the average three-bedroom house can save 10% by switching to rates for higher users of gas, while a single person might be advised to change to the reducing rate tariff.

Apart from gas, the cost of electricity will soar as the ESB has been granted a price increase of almost 20% from the end of the year, and together they could make this winter a very expensive season for consumers.