ELECTRIC Ireland has followed competitors SSE Aitricity and Power NI by imposing a price hike of 7.2 per cent from next year.
The north's third biggest supplier has announced the increase to residential electricity prices, but unlike its rivals, the new tariff will not come into effect until February. The price jump equates to an extra 70p per week or £36.40 more annually on a typical household bill.
In August both SSE Airtricity and Power NI announce price hikes of 7.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, with both coming into effect earlier this month.
Electric Ireland said that in order to protect customers from the impact of rising energy costs this winter it has delayed implementing the price rise.
Sales and marketing manager for Electric Ireland, Clare McAllister said the increase was "unavoidable".
“Electric Ireland is aware of the financial pressures our customers are facing and we are committed to keeping prices as low as possible for as long as possible," she said.
“Increasing wholesale energy costs has meant that an electricity price increase is now unavoidable. We will, however, absorb these increases over the winter months when electricity usage and bills are at their highest and then apply the 7.2 per cent price increase from February 1 2018."
Since full entry into the Northern Ireland residential energy market in 2015, Electric Ireland has attracted almost 60,000 customers, making it the third largest supplier in the market.
