Money Guide Ireland

Bord Gais are trying to get consumers to switch to them for Electricity -  but they also have a nationwide competitor for the supply of Natural Gas in Ireland – Flogas.
Just to make it even more competitive – Airticity are also planning on entering the gas supply market in Ireland  this year.

How much can you save by switching gas suppliers ?

Natural Gas Prices Compared

Figures  correct as at   February 1st  2010

The Flogas lower rates only apply to new customers that make/made the change to Flogas  on or after 12th October 2009 . Existing Flogas customers will be getting charged a higher rate (still very slightly lower than Bord Gais).

As you can see from the comparison above -   a user of 25000 kwH of gas a year would be better off with  Flogas  to the tune of  €100 .  That is a saving of just over 8%.
Flogas guarantee they will always be cheaper than Bord Gais until at least September 2010. No guarantees after that. That is when the Commission for Enery Regulation will review gas prices. Bord Gais are price regulated – but Flogas are not.

See Electricity Prices Comparison for Ireland Here

A new carbon tax of €15 Euro per Tonne was announced in the 2010 Budget. The tax will apply to Petrol and Diesel from midnight tonight.
Petrol will go up by 4.2c a litre and deisel by 4.9c a litre

The Carbon tax will apply from 1 May 2010 to Kerosene, Marked Gas Oil, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), Fuel Oil and Natural Gas. VAT will also be charged on the carbon tax.

From May 1st 2010 – the new carbon tax will result in  a price increase of Kerosene (Heating Oil) by  4.3 cent a litre including VAT.  This will mean an extra €43 Euro on 1000 litres – which is an increase of about 6.5%

Natural gas prices will rise by  €0.00307 per kWh consumed. With the average annual gas usage in Ireland around 25000 Kwh – this will mean an increase of  around  €76  a year on the average gas bill. (About 7%)
See Our Gas Price Comparison here  to see if you could save money on your gas bill.

The application of the tax to coal and commercial peat will be subject to a Commencement Order.

For some reason -  Electricity is not subject to the carbon tax!

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