Airtricity has confirmed it is increasing household gas prices in the Republic of Ireland by 2% from 1 October 2013. This will result in an average weekly gas price increase of 31 cent for customers on Airtricity’s lower-cost standard tariffs.
The rise is mainly due to an increase in gas transmission and distribution networks charges announced earlier this week by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). The increase in networks charges covers the cost of the pipes that transport gas into our homes and applies to all gas customers regardless of supplier.
Stephen Wheeler, Airtricity Managing Director, said:
“We sincerely regret having to increase our prices at this time. Unfortunately increases in costs such as the regulatory-approved increase in networks charges mean that this price change is unavoidable.
“We’re acutely aware of the impact that any price increase has on householders in these times. That’s why we’ve done all we can to minimise the impact of this increase and why we remain committed to offering a fair price for the energy we supply to all our customers.
“Not only does Airtricity continue to offer competitive price discounts for new gas customers, we’re also the only energy supplier in the market to offer cost-saving discounts to all our customers against our Standard rates if they pay by Direct Debit and receive their bill by eBilling, regardless of contract type.
“Additionally, in line with our commitment to protecting vulnerable customers most affected by the current difficult economic climate, our Pay-As-You-Go tariffs remain our cheapest available standard rates while Airtricity remains the cheapest provider of gas for customers on Pay-As-You-Go meters by as much as €109 each year.”
Read the full announcement here.