A report published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) highlights the continued fall in electricity and gas prices over the last year as Ireland strengthens its competitive position vis-a-vis energy pricing across the European Union.
The latest Electricity and Gas Prices (in Ireland) Report shows that in the year to June 2010, businesses and householders benefited from falling energy prices. Householders experienced a large fall in electricity prices of 12% bringing prices in line with the EU average, and a fall of between 20%-35% was witnessed by medium to large businesses, compared with the EU average of 4%, the largest drop in the EU. Domestic gas prices also fell by 23% and SMEs experienced a drop bringing them between 7%-18% beneath the EU average.
Professor Owen Lewis, chief executive of SEAI, Comments: “Despite misconceptions that Ireland’s energy prices are out of line with the rest of Europe, we have witnessed a steady trend towards lower energy prices for most users in recent years. It is encouraging to see that Ireland is now at or below the average in terms of energy pricing across the EU. Given current economic challenges facing Ireland, the fall in energy prices is very good news for businesses, for whom competitiveness remains a key issue. Over half of the electricity sold to Ireland’s business customers in the first six months of the year was below the EU average signalling the success of a more open energy trading market.”
The Electricity and Gas Prices (in Ireland) Report can be found on the SEAI website at: www.seai.ie/statistics.