Gas firms remove minimum consumption charge

SSE Airtricity Gas and Firmus Energy supply just under 300,000 customers in Northern Ireland

The regulated domestic gas suppliers in Northern Ireland have agreed to remove the minimum consumption charge for consumers from Tuesday.

The move by SSE Airtricity Gas Supply and Firmus Energy was announced by the Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland.

The charge has historically been in place to cover the fixed costs of the gas network, incurred regardless of consumption.

It has only been paid by low users with annual consumption under 1,700KWh.

Between them, SSE Airtricity Gas and Firmus Energy supply just under 300,000 customers in Northern Ireland.

The director of retail and consumer protection at the Utility Regulator, Kevin Shiels, welcomed the move.

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"Natural gas consumers have recently raised concerns with us about the minimum consumption charge that is included in their bills, particularly where consumers' energy usage has been low or significantly reduced," he said.

"Having engaged with the two domestic regulated gas suppliers, SSE Airtricity Gas Supply and Firmus Energy, we are pleased that both suppliers have agreed that low use gas customers will not have the minimum consumption charge included in their bills from 1 November 2022.

"This is good news for consumers. Natural gas consumers don't need to do anything and the removal of the charge will be applied automatically from 1 November 2022. This will provide some much-needed relief to those gas consumers on their energy costs this winter and beyond."

Last week, the regulator announced it was to review energy supplier direct debit arrangements to ensure they reflect individual consumers' circumstances, after concerns that some were building up large credit balances.