Northern Ireland householders are facing further price hikes in their energy bills this year.
The looming leap in energy bills is just the latest headache for hard-up households as the rising cost of living is already leaving customers struggling with everything from filling up the car to the weekly shop.
That is before, SSE Airtricity like other suppliers, hikes prices for thousands of customers from this Friday.
Read more: Firmus announces further gas price hike for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's two gas providers and six electricity networks have all increased their prices in the past year.
With wholesale energy prices experiencing an “unprecedented” rise, the Utility Regulator previously warned that household bills would rise further in the coming months - by around £1,000 more than last year.
The grim news comes amid rocketing wholesale gas prices driven by a range of factors including supply from Russia into mainland Europe, a cold winter in Europe last year and other world markets taking a larger share of gas from the Middle East.
The Consumer Council is warning more and more people will be plunged into fuel poverty, as families struggle to find extra money to pay gas and electricity bills. It is continuing to call for the energy industry to commit to financially supporting the continuation of a fuel hardship scheme.
Most homes in Northern Ireland are heated with oil, but that has also risen by around 100% over recent months, experts say.
Gas
On Thursday, around 59,000 gas customers in Northern Ireland learned they are set to be impacted by a further hike in price by the region’s largest supplier, Firmus Energy, next month.
An increase of 16.31% is to be imposed from May 3, which is the company's fourth increase since last spring.
That will see a typical bill for a household with a credit meter increase by about £211 per year to £1,504.
Customers with a prepayment gas meter will see costs rise by around £201 per year to £1,432.
It comes after a 33.57% hike to the Ten Towns tariff by Firmus in February that would bring the average household gas bill to £1,293 a year.
In April 2021, the average bill was £518.
The Ten Towns Network area includes Antrim, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Coleraine, Craigavon (including Lurgan and Portadown), Limavady, Derry, Newry and more than 25 other towns and villages in the surrounding areas.
The Utility Regulator has said a rise for Greater Belfast - which takes in more than 50,000 customers - is to follow soon.
Last November 2021, Firmus announced a 38% increase for the Ten Towns network after prices in the same area had already been increased by 35% in October.
Then, in December 2021, the company announced a 19.5% hike in Greater Belfast, three months after it announced an increase of 33%.
Meanwhile, SSE Airtricity is set to increase its natural gas prices for households and businesses by 39% from this Friday, April 1.
The increase is set to impact around 186,000 gas customers and marks the energy company's biggest rise in gas prices in their network since May 2011.
It means the yearly gas bill of a typical household with a credit meter will rise by about £244 per year, while those with a prepayment gas meter will see their typical costs increase by around £241 per year.
The firm also increased its gas prices by 21.8% in October 2021, adding about £112 to the average household bill.
Electricity
Electricity suppliers have also announced price rises, which will come into force this year.
Northern Ireland's largest energy supplier Power NI increased its prices by almost 22% for its domestic electricity customers in a move blamed on soaring global wholesale energy costs.
A lack of wind during the summer was also cited as a contributory factor, with lower rates of renewable electricity generation leading to a greater reliance on fossil fuel-fired power stations.
The 21.4% increase, which adds £2.51 to an average weekly household bill or £131 per year, came into effect on January 1.
The company had previously increased its prices by 6.9% in July 2021, adding about £41 a year to a typical household bill.
Other competitors have followed suit including SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland's second-biggest electricity supplier, which raised its electricity tariffs by 9% from December 1. This means the typical customer saw their bill rise by around £62 per year.
It had already increased prices by 9.7% from August 2021, adding approximately £58 a year.
Northern Ireland's third-largest electricity supplier Budget Energy put prices up by 29% from November, the company's fourth price rise last year and affecting around 90,000 customers.
Also from November, Electric Ireland customers saw a 13.5% rise in energy prices.
In October, Click Energy raised the prices for its customers by 16%, in what was the second price rise in a month.
It had previously raised tariffs by 9%.
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