Hot on the heels of SSE Airtricity’s launch of a range of new dual fuel deals this morning, the leading among which is a generous 25% discount off electricity and a 20% discount off gas, Energia has intervened with its own competitive dual fuel discount offer…
If there’s one phrase we love to hear here at bonkers.ie it’s “price war” because it can only mean good things for customers when it comes to savings!
Just hours after SSE announced their new dual fuel bundles this morning, the leading one being a 25% discount off electricity and a 20% discount off gas, competitor energy supplier Energia swooped in with their own brand new dual fuel deal.
Energia is now offering a discount of 29% off electricity and 28% off gas in their latest dual fuel bundle.
Quick turnaround! But how do they compare?
At first glance, 29% & 28% sounds a lot better than 25% & 20% but it’s important to compare a number of factors before you can definitively declare that one deal is better than another. Each company has different standard rates and different standing charges which you can see compared in the table below:
|
Electricity Rate (per kWh) |
Gas Rate (per kWh) |
Standing Charge (Electricity) |
Standing Charge (Gas) |
Electricity Discount |
Gas Discount |
Cost over 1 year* |
Savings in year 1** |
|
|
13.42 cent |
4.224 cent |
€158.05 |
€91.76 |
29% |
28% |
€1,404.46 |
€297.85 |
|
|
13.32 cent |
4.358 cent |
€151.33 |
€96.28 |
25% |
20% |
€1,413.18 |
€289.13 |
*Cost calculated using national average consumption figures.
** As compared to standards rates with Electric Ireland for electricity and Bord Gáis Energy for gas.
As we can see from the chart, SSE Airtricity has cheaper electricity (both in terms of the rate and the standing charge) than Energia which compensates when it comes to the discount percentage differences.
Ultimately, what this means is that when you actually compare the two suppliers over a year, the extra savings that you get on Energia’s dual fuel plan aren’t as drastic as one would expect - so don’t go tearing your hair out if you’ve already signed up with SSE Airtricity. It’s a small difference of just €8.72 over a year; we’re talking about the price of a lunch here.
In a strategic move by Energia, the supplier can maintain its status as the cheapest supplier on the market.
Next steps
We’ve seen moves like this from energy suppliers before and it will be interesting to see if any other suppliers step in with other new deals in the coming days and weeks.
If you’d like to benefit from the savings afforded by price wars but don’t know where to start; a good first step is, and always will be, to run a full market comparison to see the best deals to suit your needs and energy usage patterns.
