Electricity prices to rise for thousands this autumn

Thousands of Northern Ireland electricity customers will face increased energy costs this autumn.

SSE Airtricity, the second biggest supplier, is raising prices by almost 7% or £39 a year for the typical household.

Electric Ireland, the third biggest supplier, is imposing an 8% increase or £44 a year.

The firms said the rises reflected increased costs from the network provider and the market operator.

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Power NI, the biggest supplier, raised its prices by a similar amount earlier this month citing the same reasons.

David Manning, director of Home Energy at SSE Airtricity, said: "We're disappointed to have to announce an increase in our electricity prices at this time.

"While there have been reductions in wholesale energy costs these have been negated by external cost increases applied to all energy suppliers."

SSE has about 170,000 household customers, which is just over 20% of the market.

Electric Ireland has around 92,000 domestic customers, about 11% of the market.