Power NI and Firmus customers in Northern Ireland are facing higher energy costs from 1 July following tariff increases announced by both suppliers.
Power NI will raise its electricity unit price by 6.2% across Northern Ireland, with the company stating the average household bill will rise by around £5 per month.
Firmus is increasing its natural gas tariff by 15.65% for Ten Towns customers, adding approximately £2.47 per week, or £10.70 per month, to the average household bill.
Both companies have attributed the increases to higher global energy and gas prices, citing sustained pressures in International wholesale markets.
William Steele, Director of Power NI Customer Solutions, said the tariff increase was “not a decision we’ve taken lightly.”
“We have worked hard to hold prices for as long as possible, but sustained increases in global gas costs, along with higher network and market related charges, means unfortunately this increase is unavoidable,” Steele said.
He added: “We know this is unwelcome, however, we’ve delayed the change as long as we could, while keeping our tariffs competitive locally and below the average in GB and the Republic of Ireland.”
David Smith, director at Firmus, pointed to ongoing geopolitical instability as a key driver of the price change for his company’s customers.
“Unfortunately, we continue to experience elevated wholesale prices while the conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved,” Smith said when announcing the tariff change.
Smith noted that over the past year Firmus had reduced its tariffs on three separate occasions, bringing them down by over 27% and saving customers around £300 on average per annum.
He acknowledged the increase was “unwelcome” but said it means bills will “now be roughly the same as this time last year and still significantly below where they had been in previous years.”
Leigh Greer, head of security of supply and markets regulation at the Utility Regulator, also acknowledged the difficulty the increases would cause for consumers across Northern Ireland.
“We understand this increase in energy costs is not welcome news for consumers,” Greer said, confirming the regulator was aware of the financial impact on households.
Greer explained that “continued and sustained rises in the wholesale cost of energy, caused by the conflict in the Middle East, has resulted in these increases,” adding that the conflict had already affected home heating oil, petrol and diesel prices globally.