Firmus gas and electricity bills cut as government scheme comes into force

Firmus energy confirmed its Derry and Limavady customers will receive a discount of 27% on their gas bills from yesterday, November 1. Firmus is also removing their minimum consumption charge.

The announcement follows a series of huge energy price hikes across Ireland and Britain throughout 2022, which firms say are linked to wholesale prices.

The increases has sparked protests as people face into a winter of rising costs for heating, electricity, food and other goods.

Niall Martindale, CEO, firmus energy, said: “From November 1, ‘The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) Scheme’ will provide much needed support to our domestic gas customers. Domestic customers will benefit from a discount of at least 26% 1(£11.70 per week).”

Derry-based electricity supplier Click Energy said that its domestic customers will benefit from a 54.72% decrease, backdated to October 1.

Under the EPG scheme, Clck Energy’s domestic tariff will be discounted by 19.908 pence per kWh (ex. VAT). This will be automatically applied to bills and for keypad meters, automatically applied to the rate paid for each unit of electricity.

Philip McDaid, Acting CEO said: "The rapid inflation of wholesale gas prices continues to cause unavoidable pressures on the energy market, but we hope this announcement will come as a welcome relief.”

Mr McDaid also cautioned that the EPG is not a usage cap, meaning the exact bill will still depend on how much electricity is used.

Households will also receive £400 credit through the Energy Bills Support Scheme this winter, although details of when the scheme is to be rolled out of this will take place.