Pinergy has become the first Irish energy provider to announce a decrease in its electricity prices since wholesale costs starting rising following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February.
The company estimates that the average household will pay 7.1% or €183 less per year for electricity with the decision.. The company has around 27,000 electricity customers.
The supplier will decrease its standard unit rate for electricity from 46.77 cent per kWh to 42.77c per kWh, excluding VAT, from 31 March, having increased prices 18% last month.
Pinergy CEO Enda Gunnell said the firm had previously committed to reducing prices "when circumstances and market conditions allowed."
"With recent reductions in the wholesale costs of electricity, we are now pleased to be able to announce this price decrease. However, the outlook on global wholesale markets continues to show inflated & volatile pricing over the medium term," he continued.
In Association with
“The energy crisis has not gone away, and market reforms of the energy sector are still urgently required. We continue to engage with regulators and policy makers to urge reform for energy users, generators & suppliers across the marketplace.”
Daragh Cassidy, head of communications for Bonkers.ie, welcomed the decision but said that Pinergy's electricity prices had been among the highest in the market beforehand.
With the cut, Pinergy becomes one of the cheapest electricity suppliers while still being 8% more expensive that Electric Ireland (39.7c per kWh) with wholesale prices still "way above normal" and "a long way" from 2020 levels, according to Cassidy.
“Other suppliers will no doubt come under pressure to follow Pinergy's reduction. However a lot will depend on their hedging strategies and when they bought their gas and electricity," Cassidy said.
"And some suppliers like Electric Ireland and Prepaypower already have cheaper unit rates so may not respond at all until prices on wholesale markets drop further.
“But the outlook for hard-pressed households is much more positive than even a few weeks ago and hopefully we'll see more widespread reductions in the second half of the year. The peak of the energy crisis seems to have passed.”
Pinergy has also urged customers in need of additional assistance to contact the company as a first step so that they can be provided with a range of energy supports.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has also announced that the 2022/23 PSO credit of €89.10 will be paid to customers over seven months from 1 March.
“Pinergy customers are uniquely empowered with the latest in smart technologies that allows them to see their energy consumption every day and identify potential areas of energy waste to be addressed," Gunnell said.
"As part of a just energy transition, we are also maintaining our market leading Clean Export Guarantee of 25c per kWh for our customers who are generating their own electricity and wish to sell their excess back to us.”
(Pic: Alex Yeung/Shutterstock)
