SSE Airtricity has announced a price increase which will see its average customers’ energy bills increase by around 9%.<\/p>\n
The change will take effect from October.<\/p>\n
The energy provider said the price increase would see its typical customer’s electricity bill rise by 8.9%, representing a \u20ac171.55 increase over a full year.<\/p>\n
At the same time its typical customer’s gas bill will rise by 9.3%, representing an extra \u20ac138.70 per year.<\/p>\n
For its dual fuel customers, that would mean an average 9.1% increase – or an extra \u20ac311.48 per year across its two bills.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile SSE Airtricity has also announced its electricity standing charge will increase by 6.1%, though there will be no change to its standing charge for gas users.<\/p>\n
The energy firm blamed the price range on global energy market volatility and rising network charges.<\/p>\n
It said wholesale gas prices had more than doubled over the past 12 months, which it was now passing on to customers.<\/p>\n
“We have worked hard to shield our customers from the full impact of ongoing volatility in wholesale energy costs,” said SSE Airtricity managing director Stephen Gallagher. “However, given the sustained and unprecedented nature of current market volatilities, as well as the increased network charges, we unfortunately can no longer absorb these costs.”<\/p>\n
SSE Airtricity is the latest energy provider to announce a price increase.<\/p>\n
Pinergy last month announced an increase in electricity prices, Flogas flagged electricity and gas prices in June, while Yuno Energy and Electric Ireland announced increases in May.<\/p>\n