Electric Ireland: 10% price hike for customers

One of Northern Ireland's main electricity suppliers is increasing its prices for consumers from Sunday.

Electric Ireland customers will see a 10.2% increase in their electricity bill with effect from 1 August.

The company said this equates to an increase of approximately £1.14 per week on an average household bill.

Electric Ireland is the 3rd largest supplier in the NI marketplace with about 99,000 customers.

Company spokesperson Clare McAllister said the increase was due to continued increases in wholesale energy costs.

"We would encourage anyone who is having trouble paying bills to contact us and we will support them with an affordable payment plan over the coming months.," she added.

In July, SSE Airtricity announced a 9.7%.increase in household electricity prices for its NI customers.

SSE is the second biggest supplier in the market.

It also blamed increases in the cost of wholesale energy and the increase comes into effect on 1 August.