THE north’s second largest power supplier SSE Airtricity has said its electricity customers will see a rise in their bills from March.
The company, which supplies around 167,000 customers here, said the standard price of electricity will increase by 3.9 per cent from March 1.
SSE Airtricity said the price hike is driven by increases in the cost of using the electricity network and market charges.
It said a typical household customers will see electricity costs rise by around 43p per week.
But the supplier said power bills will still be lower than in spring 2020 due to a five per cent cut it introduced on August 1 2020.
David Manning who heads SSE Airtricity’s home energy division, admitted it was still a difficult announcement for the firm to make.
“However, as is the case for all suppliers, pass-through charges outside our control have increased materially – including electricity network and market charges," he said.
“We have made every effort to absorb these costs through the winter in order to reduce the impact on our customers.
“As always, we will do everything we can to assist our customers and encourage anyone that is having difficulty with their bills to please contact us and we will work with you to find a solution together.”
SSE Airtricity still holds the status as the north’s largest provider of greener energy.
The supplier also said it had repurposed a community fund linked to a wind farm project at Slieve Kirk in north Tyrone as a Covid-19 support fund. The supplier said some £170,000 had been made available for PPE for carers, meals on wheels for vulnerable people and technology for children home-schooling.
