Electricity supplier SSE Airtricity increases prices by 3.9%

Northern Ireland's second-biggest electricity supplier, SSE, is to increase prices by 3.9% from 1 March.

The firm said the rise reflected increased costs from the network provider and the market operator.

SSE cut prices by 5% during the summer so it has said customers will still pay less compared to the same time last year.

SSE has about 162,000 domestic electricity customers in NI, giving it a market share of 20%.

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David Manning, director of home energy at SSE, said: "Pass-through charges outside our control have increased materially - including electricity network and market charges.

"We have made every effort to absorb these costs through the winter in order to reduce the impact on our customers."