THE Consumer Council has welcomed price decreases announced today by SSE Airtricity Gas and Power NI.
SSE Airtricity Gas have announced a reduction of 22.8 per cent on their regulated gas tariffs for domestic and small business customers in both the Greater Belfast and West gas network areas.
This means the annual gas bill of a typical household in the Greater Belfast and West gas networks with a credit meter, will reduce by about £320 per year. For those customers with a prepayment gas meter (PAYG) in the Greater Belfast and West networks, they will see their typical costs reduce by around £316.
The North's largest electricity supplier, Power NI, is also set to decrease its tariffs by 6.3% per cent.
This news follows three tariff decreases from Power NI during 2023 and will be welcomed by over 500,000 households. This means that the typical annual electricity bill of a Power NI customer with a credit meter, will be reduced by around £64 for the year and a typical prepayment (PAYG) customer will see their annual electricity costs reduced by around £62 a year.
Both reductions are effective 1 April.
Commenting on the reductions, Raymond Gormley, Head of Energy Policy at the Consumer Council, said: “These tariff decreases are welcome news as they indicate a downward trend in wholesale energy prices. We work closely with the Utility Regulator and regulated supply companies to help protect and support consumers during price increases and we also ensure that that any cost savings are passed onto consumers as soon as possible during price decreases."
He added: “Now that there is some change in electricity prices with the regulated and unregulated suppliers, we encourage consumers to use our free online Energy Price Comparison Tools to check that they are on the best deal or if they could save money by switching supplier, billing method or tariff.”
