Households 'missing out on significant amount of cost savings,' says energy regulator

Jun 12, 2023

“By only switching once and not looking at which plan is best suited after the expiration of their discount tariff, customers are missing out on a significant amount of potential cost savings,” the Commission for Regulation of Utilities said.

Households are “missing out on a significant amount of potential cost savings” on their gas and electricity bills, the energy regulator has said.

As consumers still face sky-high bills to heat and power their homes, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has said the cheapest standard dual fuel estimated annual bill stood at €3,933 for existing customers last month.

While Electric Ireland offered that cheapest rate, all the other major suppliers were charging in excess of €4,000 a year to standard dual fuel existing customers.

However, when looking at discounted rates being offered by companies, new customers at Flogas would be paying an estimated annual bill of €3,371, the CRU said. Customers could save more by using smart meter time-of-use rates, with the cheapest estimated annual bill for dual fuel at €3,250.

The regulator said that customers who switch suppliers are letting their discounted original deals lapse and are then put on more expensive tariffs.

Throughout the energy crisis, it has encouraged households to try to avail of discounts when switching to slash their energy bills. But, despite falling wholesale rates for electricity, companies have been slow to pass on these savings.

“The CRU notes that Time of Use (ToU) tariffs represent some of the best value customers can currently avail of. Once a customer has a smart meter installed this will allow them to avail of a ToU plan from an energy supplier.”

For existing customers, the current cheapest standard electricity estimated annual bill was for €1,866 with SSE Airtricity. This rose to €1,923 with Electric Ireland and €1,970 for Energia. Bord Gais Energy was just over €2,000 while Flogas was the most expensive.

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When it came to discounted rates, Flogas then had the least expensive estimated annual bill at €1,801, according to CRU. Customers on smart meter time-of-use bills then were facing the lowest estimated annual bill, ranging from €1,680 with Flogas’s one-year fixed rate plan to PrePay Power’s standard smart tariff at €2,026.

However, to avail of these plans, customers must have a smart meter. The Dáil heard in June that 1.5 million meters have been installed across the country so far against a target of 2.2 million.

Meanwhile, the Government has signalled more one-off supports may be included in this year’s Budget and it comes as energy prices remain stubbornly high, despite falling wholesale electricity prices.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has said that energy firms must start dropping their prices for customers sooner rather than later.

“We have seen a dramatic fall in wholesale energy prices now, and yet we only have had a very small number of announcements of price reductions for households,” he said last week. “So that needs to change.

“As a Government, we do expect that the benefit of those wholesale price reductions, which have been dramatic, would be passed on to consumers."