Energy firms under pressure as new rival cuts its prices for the ...
Pressure is mounting on energy giants Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis after a rival again reduced its prices.
New player Yuno has now joined SSE Airtricity and Pinergy in announcing two reductions in their tariffs in the past few months.
Yuno Energy, which launched only last August, is cutting its prices for the second time from today.
It is understood the move reflects further falls in wholesale costs and a desire by the company to maintain a position as the cheapest in the market.
Its latest reduction knocks 8pc off its electricity fixed-rate unit price. The new fixed unit rate for electricity is 28.93c per kilowatt hour, when Vat is included.
This is down from 31.55c per kWh, and is its 24-hour urban rate.
The new rate is fixed, meaning it would not change for the duration of the contract to which consumers signed up, the firm said. Yuno chief executive Cathal Fay said this would be the cheapest unit rate in the market.
The total cost for a typical customer would be €1,480 a year, which is more than €500 cheaper than the average standard rates from other suppliers.
Mr Fay said: “Importantly, this is after all recently announced decreases by other suppliers take effect.”
SSE Airtricity’s second price cut was announced before Christmas but will not take effect until the start of next month.
Mr Fay said the launch of his company had prompted a wave of price reductions by rival energy companies.
Suggestions that the second Yuno cut was due to a failure by the company to meet targets for customer recruitment were rejected. Mr Fay said: “We have been delighted with the success of our launch. We’ve beaten our target of attracting over 10,000 customers to Yuno Energy between our launch in August and the end of December.
“Our customers appreciate not just our great value rates but our Yuno Energy app that puts their energy in the palm of their hand.”
David Kerr, founder and chief executive of price comparison site Bonkers.ie, said the price-cut announcement from Yuno Energy was good news for electricity customers.
He said the Yuno electricity rate would be the cheapest electricity price currently available, and would remain the cheapest once previously announced rate cuts come into effect on February 1.
“The new tariff offered by Yuno is a fixed-rate tariff, meaning the price will remain the same for the duration of the customer contract, which can offer customers peace of mind when it comes to choosing their electricity supply tariff, and is a very welcome new year’s announcement by Ireland’s newest electricity provider.”
In November Yuno announced a price cut on its fixed rate. Its customers receive a bill at the start of the month for their expected usage over the coming month. The predicted bill is based on their previous energy usage.
Pinergy has also announced two electricity price reductions in the past few months. But Electric Ireland – which has 1.2 million electricity customers – Bord Gáis and Energia have announced only one reduction since the energy crisis erupted two years ago.
Yuno is part of the same group that owns Prepay Power, which operates a different service model. It allows customers to buy electricity credit at any time. That credit is then used to pay for their electricity as they consume it.
