Click Energy increasing electricity prices by 11% in Northern Ireland

The electricity price rise is the second increase in six months

Click Energy, the smallest of the five household electricity suppliers in Northern Ireland, is increasing prices by 11%.

The increase will start on 1 July and will affect about 26,000 customers.

The Consumer Council said the move will add almost £100 to a typical annual bill.

All electricity firms have been increasing prices in response to higher wholesale energy costs.

Raymond Gormley, head of energy policy at the Consumer Council, said the increase comes at a time when "many are already experiencing extreme pressures on their household budgets with rises in home heating oil, natural gas, coal, grocery, and transport fuel costs.

"We urge anyone who is struggling to pay their energy bills, or to top-up their meter, to contact their supplier directly for help with payment plans for bill pay/direct debit and prepayment meters."

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Last month, Northern Ireland's largest electricity supplier, Power NI, said it will increase prices for domestic customers by 27.5% from 1 July 2022.

Two other Northern Ireland power companies, SSE and Budget Energy, raised their electricity prices by about 30% from 1 June, a month after Electric Ireland increased its prices by the same amount.

Firmus Energy and SSE Airtricity have announced gas price rises of 24.54% and 42.7% respectively from 1 July.

The Chancellor has announced a package of measures to help lower income households with the cost of living.

That includes a plan to give every household in the UK an energy bill discount of £400 this October.

However, it is not yet clear how that will be implemented in Northern Ireland in the absence of an Executive.