Energy bills to go up for Power NI and Firmus customers

Power NI and Firmus customers will face a price increase from 1 July.

Power NI's electricity unit price will increase by 6.2% across Northern Ireland, which the company says means the average household bill will increase by about £5 per month.

Firmus' natural gas tariff will increase by 15.65% for its Ten Towns customers, which it says equates to an extra £2.47 per week (£10.70 a month) for the average household.

Both suppliers have said the increases are due to higher global energy and gas prices.

Director of Power NI Customer Solutions, William Steele said this tariff increase was "not a decision we've taken lightly".

"We have worked hard to hold prices for as long as possible, but sustained increases in global gas costs, along with higher network and market related charges, means unfortunately this increase is unavoidable.

"We know this is unwelcome, however, we've delayed the change as long as we could, while keeping our tariffs competitive locally and below the average in GB and the Republic of Ireland."

'We understand this increase is not welcome news'

Announcing this latest tariff change, David Smith, director at Firmus, said: "Unfortunately, we continue to experience elevated wholesale prices while the conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved.

"Over the last year or so we have reduced our tariffs on three separate occasions, bringing tariffs down by over 27% and saving customers around £300 on average per annum."

Smith said while the increase is "unwelcome", it means that customers' bills will "now be roughly the same as this time last year and still significantly below where they had been in previous years".

Leigh Greer, head of security of supply and markets regulation at the Utility Regulator said: "We understand this increase in energy costs is not welcome news for consumers.

"Unfortunately, the impact of continued and sustained rises in the wholesale cost of energy, caused by the conflict in the Middle East, has resulted in these increases.

"The conflict has impacted energy prices globally, and has already affected home heating oil, petrol and diesel prices."