Power NI lowers prices by 9.2% for homes and small businesses

The price cut for homes and small businesses will come into force from 1 April

Power NI is to drop electricity prices for homes and small businesses by 9.2%.

The company is the biggest electricity supplier, providing for more than half a million homes and 37,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.

The price cut will come into force from 1 April.

The company said the cut would mean the average household would save £50 a year, and £200 a year for small businesses.

Power NI will still be taking the same 2% slice of profits, and said they were able to introduce the cut because of a reduction in the wholesale price of gas in recent months.

Gas is the biggest component in electricity generation, so electricity prices are more closely related to gas prices than oil prices which have fallen further over the last year.

Kerstie Forsyth from Power NI said: "We were able to buy cheaper wholesale electricity prices just before Christmas, and that was as a result of lower wholesale gas prices."

Ms Forsyth said that because the company buys in advance, 1 April is the earliest moment that they can pass the savings on to customers.

The change in price had to be cleared by the Utility Regulator because the company has such a big chunk of the electricity market.

Fluctuations

The regulator's chief executive Jenny Pyper said "customers of Power NI can be confident that, due to our regulation of Power NI's prices, their bills reflect the actual costs of supplying electricity".

After significant fluctuations in recent years, Power NI's electricity price is now below the rate they charged in 2010.

The smaller electricity providers are not regulated, but often follow the same rough trajectory as Power NI in order to compete.

On Tuesday, Budget Energy announced a 5% price cut, and SSE Airtricity and Electric Ireland have yet to respond.

Larger companies, who have recently raised concerns over energy costs are unlikely to see as big a drop.

Expensive network costs make up a larger chunk of their bill, which will not be affected by this price cut.

The Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA) welcomed the price reduction.

NIIRTA chief executive Glyn Roberts said: "Energy costs are a top concern for our members, given many of them have refrigeration in their stores and so are pleased that this price reduction will bring bills down to 2008 prices."