Pinergy becomes first energy retailer to cut electricity prices since 2020

Electricity supplier Pinergy has become the first energy provider in Ireland to reduce its electricity prices since 2020 as European wholesale energy price inflation continues to moderate.

The company is reducing its standard unit rate by almost 9 per cent from March 31st, which will result in savings of about €183 per year – roughly 7 per cent – for the average Pinergy customer, price comparison website Bonkers.ie said in a statement.

The supplier, which increased its prices by 19 per cent only last month, has about 27,000 customers in the Irish market. After significantly hiking its charges over the past two years, its prices were among the highest on the market, according to analysis by the website.

But Darragh Cassidy, head of communications at Bonkers.ie, said Pinergy will now be among the cheaper energy providers when the changes are implemented.

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“This is obviously welcome news and yet another sign of some normality returning to the energy market,” said Mr Cassidy in a statement. “This reduction now makes them one of the cheaper suppliers – if you could use that word in today’s market. But its prices are still around 8 per cent above Electric Ireland’s – the biggest electricity supplier in the market.”

In recent days, the price of European natural gas has fallen to its lowest level since the build-up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Aided by mild weather, ample storage and efforts to source alternative supplies, European gas prices have fallen by as much as 85 per cent since August 2022, when big cuts in Russian supplies led to alarm, the Financial Times reported over the weekend.

Commenting on the reduction, Pinergy chief executive Enda Gunnell said the company had “previously committed to reducing electricity prices when circumstances and market conditions allowed”.

He said: “With recent reductions in the wholesale costs of electricity, we are now pleased to be able to announce this price decrease. However, the outlook on global wholesale markets continues to show inflated and volatile pricing over the medium term. The energy crisis has not gone away, and market reforms of the energy sector are still urgently required. We continue to engage with regulators and policymakers to urge reform for energy users, generators and suppliers across the marketplace.”

Separately, Mr Cassidy said energy markets remained “volatile” with wholesale gas and electricity “markets still at levels that are way above normal”.

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He said: “Other suppliers will no doubt come under pressure to follow Pinergy’s reduction. However, a lot will depend on their hedging strategies and when they bought their gas and electricity. And some suppliers like Electric Ireland and Prepaypower already have cheaper unit rates so may not respond at all until prices on wholesale markets drop further.

“But the outlook for hard-pressed households is much more positive than even a few weeks ago and hopefully we’ll see more widespread reductions in the second half of the year. The peak of the energy crisis seems to have passed.”

In response to queries, a spokesman for Electric Ireland – the supply division of Electricity Supply Board (ESB) – said it was “acutely aware” of the burden of high energy prices on its customers. The company, he said, “will continue to keep its prices under constant review, and is committed to providing customers with the best value possible across a broad range of products”.

But he said that while wholesale markets had fallen in recent months, they remained at “levels substantially higher” than before the invasion of Ukraine. The spokesman noted that as of the start of the month, Electric Ireland offered “the lowest estimated annual bill for electricity on the market”.

A spokesman for SSE Airtricity said: “We know energy prices are a primary concern for our customers and last year SSE Airtricity became the first energy supplier to announce that it will forgo profits this financial year, focusing instead on protecting our customers from market volatility. This followed a previously announced range of customer support measures which total up to €25 million. SSE Airtricity has a long-standing commitment to working with our customers. We actively monitor energy markets and, as we have done before, will look to reduce our prices as soon as it possible to do so.”

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Bord Gáis Energy said the recent downturn in wholesale prices “is not reflected in current consumer prices and won’t be for some time” because the its energy traders purchase energy on the “forward market” meaning it buys energy up to 18 months in advance of its use by customers.

“We do this to protect our customers, in so far as we can, from normal market volatility,” she said.