Northern Ireland

SSE Airtricity customers face huge increase in gas price

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana, &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;; ">The new price means a typical household customer can expect to see an annual increase of around &pound;112</span>
The new price means a typical household customer can expect to see an annual increase of around £112 The new price means a typical household customer can expect to see an annual increase of around £112

SSE Airtricity has announced a price increase of 21.8 per cent for its gas customers across Northern Ireland.

The new price means a typical household customer can expect to see an annual increase of around £112 to £626 per year.

The change takes effect from Friday October 1.

Last week, the chief executive of the north’s Utility Regulator John French warned of price rises, saying the wholesale price of gas, coal, oil, and carbon have seen record increases on the UK and European markets.

But he said electricity tariffs are unlikely to rise again in 2021.

“These wholesale price increases will unfortunately impact consumers in Northern Ireland, as wholesale energy costs make up around half of both our gas and electricity bills,” he said.

Mr French said however, that electricity tariffs are unlikely to rise again in 2021.

It is believed Firmus Energy are also preparing to announce increases in their gas tariffs this month.

SSE Airtricity General Manager (NI)  Andrew Greer said: “We are aware of the impact this increase will have on our customers and this decision has not been taken lightly. SSE Airtricity has a longstanding history of working with our customers and, as we have done in the past, we will look to lower our prices as soon as it possible to do so.

“As always, we encourage any customer who is having difficulty with their energy costs to contact us and we will do everything we can to find a solution together."