Gas and electricity switching remains strong among Irish households
Mark Whelan
Mark Whelan
Staff Writer

There were over 100,000 energy switches in the first three months of the year, but should there have been more?

As a nation, we are firmly established as one of the best in Europe for gas and electricity switching, a fact that makes us very happy here at bonkers.ie.

In 2016, we finished in second and third place for gas and electricity switching, respectively. And the numbers for 2017 are looking strong too.

According to the CER’s latest Energy Retail Market Report, there were over 100,000 energy switches between January and March.

Although this might sound like a big number in isolation, it means that around 85% of Irish households didn’t switch during the period and therefore might have paid more than they had to.

77,000 electricity switches

There was a total of 77,681 electricity switches in the first quarter of 2017.

Considering that there was an average of €226 to be saved by switching during the first three months of the year, there was nearly €18 million shaved off householders’ bills across the period.

Better to have that money in your pocket rather than those of your supplier, right?

If you weren’t among the 77,000 or so electricity customers who switched before March this year, don’t feel left out. It is still a very good time to snap up some serious savings.

Just last week, SSE Airtricity and Energia launched new deals which are available to new customers right now. But to find the very best deal for you, it’s always wise to compare the whole market before making the switch.

Gas switching up 20%

We were happy to see the number of households switching gas suppliers surge in the first three months of the year.

The months of January and February in particular can be especially pricey when it comes to gas bills, as we all crank the home heating to fend off the winter chill and post-Christmas blues. According to MET Éireann, the average temperature in January was 5.7 degrees...brrr!

A total of 30,527 households switched gas suppliers and saved during the period, which is a massive 20.64% increase on last year.

All you need to switch gas suppliers is your GPRN (which is written on your bill) and a recent meter reading. With those to hand, you can switch and save in a few minutes over on our gas comparison page.

Renegotiation on the rise

According to the CER's report, an increasing number of customers are renegotiating contracts with their suppliers, in lieu of switching.

The first three months of 2017 saw over 69,533 electricity customers and 12,373 gas customers get a better deal with their existing suppliers.

We even saw an example of this play out on Twitter just the other day, as one savvy saver challenged his supplier, Bord Gáis Energy, to match the best deal on offer from Flogas.

Households taking advantage of competition

It’s good to see many Irish households taking advantage of the competitive marketplace by either switching suppliers or renegotiating better deals for themselves.

However, the majority of consumers are still paying more than they have to! If you haven’t changed suppliers or contract in the last year, the chances are you’ll save money by switching.

The PSO Levy, which is an unavoidable charge for all electricity customers, is set to increase by €24 on October 1st, making now a very good time to switch. Doing so will almost certainly offset the entire cost of the levy (which is now nearly €105) and leave you with some extra spending money too.