Money Guide Ireland

Bord Gais now have two competitors for the supply of Natural Gas in Ireland – Flogas and Airtricity. As of June 1st 2010 – Flogas have reduced prices in response to Airtricity’s entry into the residential gas market.
Airtricity will only supply gas if you also get electricity from them.

How much can you save by switching gas suppliers ?

Natural Gas Prices Compared (New customers)

Figures  correct as at   June 1st 2010
(These prices shown include standing charges but do not include the new carbon tax)

As you can see from the comparison above -   a Bord Gais customer using  25000 kwH of gas a year would be better off switching to  Flogas  – to the tune of  €123 a year .
This special rate is for new customers who  pay by Direct Debit.

See Electricity Prices Comparison for Ireland Here

Airtricity – who are already in competition with ESB for Electricity supply – have started accepting customers for GAS .
You can see the various energy suppliers prices here :
Electricity Prices ::     Gas Prices

You can only get gas from Airtricity if you get electricity from them too. Airtricity prices for gas are about 10% lower than  Bord Gais  – but they are only slightly lower than Flogas.
Flogas have been supplying natural gas nationwide for a while now and prices are about 8% less than Bord Gais.  Up to now – the cheapest option for a dual fuel customer has been to use Airtricity for Electricity and use Flogas for Gas. It now looks like the cheapest option is to go with Airtricity for both.

From October 1st 2009 – all the electricity suppliers in Ireland have reduced their prices for residential customers. See the latest comparison of electricity prices here.
ESB , Airtricity and Bord Gais charges have all dropped by about 3%  with effect from October 1st 2009.
Bord Gais and Airtricity are still actively promoting their services and trying to persuade people to switch from ESB . In all cases – you can save money by switching from ESB. Someone using 800 units a month could save as much as  €215 Euro a year by switching . See Airtricity , Bord Gais and ESB comparison here .

An average price reduction of 10% on Electricity and  12% on Gas is on the way in  Ireland
The Irish CER (Commission for Energy Regulation) announced it’s proposal to get suppliers to drop fuel prices from  May 2009. The reduction has yet to be confirmed – but it applies to all suppliers including Bord Gais, ESB and Airtricity.

See our Electricity Price Comparison

Now there is some competition at last in the provision of residential electricity in Ireland.  ESB  (Electricity Supply Board) is the semi-state provider – that until recently was the only supplier. Now – customers can choose from Airtricity and Bord Gais (The Gas Board).

Who has the Cheapest Electricity in Ireland ?
Well – according to the Bord Gais expensive marketing campaign – they have prices up to 14% lower than ESB. (It will be a while before they get back what they spent on advertising .)
Airticity havealso recently reduced prices – and now claim to be up to 13% cheaper than ESB.
Standing charges are the same accross all providers – it is just the cost of the units of electricity that differ.

See The current Electricity Charges from ESB , Bord Gais and Airtricity here.

You can get the lowest prices from Bord Gais  if you are also a  gas customer  and you pay by  DD -  but this is not available to customers not on gas.

Obviously – the more electricity you use – the more savings you will make compared to ESB.
Bord Gais say they will keep prices at least 10% below ESB for a year – then they commit to keeping them at least 5% lower than ESB for the next 2 years.
Airtricity also say they will keep prices at the current percentage below ESB until Jan 2010.
Airtricity  use more renewable energy sources – they say 79% of their energy comes from renewable sources at the last check (compared to just  9% at ESB). So with Airtricity you can save money and save the planet too!

Electricity Prices Compared