Pay-as-you-go electricity provider, PrePayPower will cut its standard unit rate by 4.1% on June 1st. Here are the details of this year's latest price cut.
Last month’s Vayu Energy Report revealed that wholesale electricity price are 35% lower than they were this time last year. That means that electricity suppliers across Ireland are paying less for the electricity that they sell on to consumers.
The collapse in wholesale prices has led to calls for electricity suppliers to cut prices and pass some of these savings on to customers. And it seems that suppliers are now starting to take heed.
Following last month’s 6% price cut announcement from Electric Ireland, PrePayPower has followed suit by announcing a 4.1% cut to its standard unit rate.
How much will customers save?
PrePayPower’s price cut, which comes into effect on June 1st, will benefit all customers regardless of when they signed up.
The supplier’s standard unit rate currently stands at 15.76 cent (ex VAT), so the 4.1% reduction will take that figure down to 15.11 cent (ex VAT) by our calculations.
The price reduction should make PrePayPower’s unit rate one one-hundredth of a cent cheaper than Electric Ireland's standard unit rate when both price cuts take effect, enabling PrePayPower to maintain its “cheapest standard unit rate” position.
The unit rate reduction will amount to a saving of about €39 a year for PrePayPower customers.
To avail of the saving, all customers have to do is make sure to top up their prepayment meter before June 1st.
What will the year one cost be?
As is the case with all of Ireland’s electricity suppliers, the standard unit rate is just one of a number of charges to consider before picking a supplier.
PrePayPower customers are subject to the PSO Levy of €68.20 (incl VAT) a year and an annual Standing Charge of €156.99 (incl VAT).
In addition to that, PrePayPower customers must pay a prepayment service charge, which works out at €136.73 (incl VAT) a year.
So, when all taxes and charges are taken into an account, a PrePayPower customer will spend about €1,271 in year one with the supplier.
PrePayPower is currently offering €50 cashback to new customers, which would the average customer's year one cost down to €1,221.
How to maximise savings
Price cuts for existing customers, such as this 4.1% reduction from PrePayPower and Electric Ireland’s recently-announced 6% cut are certainly welcome. However, the largest savings are still to be had for customers that switch suppliers and take advantage of new customer discounts which are as high as 26% right now.
