PrepayPower announce price hikes for electricity and gas customers from October 1

Energy provider PrepayPower has announced a hike in gas and electricity prices from October 1.

The increase will see electricity prices rise by 19 per cent, while gas prices will rise by 29 per cent.

This will result in an additional €339 to the average electricity bill and €428 to the average gas bill, or an increase of €6.53 for electricity and €8.24 for gas per week.

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PrepayPower sells electricity and gas to retail customers on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Customers top up their meters and control their energy usage by means of a smartphone app or by purchasing credit in newsagents or other shops.

Close-up of flames on gas hob (gettyimages.ie)

Over 170,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers will be affected by the change.

PrepayPower said the hike is a result of "continued upward price pressure on international energy markets" and comes as the energy provider's third price increase so far this year.

It previously raised prices in July, which saw electricity increase by 12.5 per cent while gas went up by 21 per cent.

It also raised its prices by a similar amount in April.

A PrePayPower spokesperson said: "Regrettably, surging international wholesale costs make customer price increases inevitable.

"Were it not for our extensive hedging operations, these increases would have had to be significantly higher. We continue to work hard to protect customers to the greatest extent possible from the impact of these international developments."

The news comes after SSE Airtricity also announced hikes last week.

SSE Airtricity customers will see an increase in electricity charges by more than 35 per cent and an increase in gas costs by 39 per cent from the start of October.

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