Bord Gáis moves first, Energia follows three days later. The reasons are in the wholesale market, not in anything the Budget can fix quickly.
Two of Ireland’s largest energy suppliers raise their prices this month. Bord Gáis Energy, the country’s biggest gas supplier, increases electricity by 8.8% and gas by 9.3% from Thursday 9 October. For an average customer that is around €177 a year more for electricity and €140 more for gas. Energia, with roughly 290,000 customers, raises electricity by an average of 4.73%, about €87 a year, from Monday 12 October.
Why now
Both suppliers point to the wholesale market. Gas prices on European exchanges have doubled compared with a year ago and are at levels last seen at the end of 2022. Because gas sets the price of electricity in Ireland for much of the day, even on days when wind supplies most of the power, the two move together.
The CSO reported wholesale electricity prices 77% higher in August than in the same month of 2025. Suppliers buy ahead, so retail prices lag the wholesale market by months. These increases reflect purchases made over the summer.
What it adds up to
Before this round, Selectra put the average annual electricity bill at €1,802 and the average gas bill at €1,488. Add the Bord Gáis increases and a dual-fuel household on its standard tariffs is looking at roughly €3,600 a year. Eurostat’s latest figures place Ireland first in the EU for household electricity prices and eighth for gas.
What you can do this week
Check your contract end date. Discounted rates usually run for 12 months and then revert to the supplier’s standard tariff, which is where the headline increases bite hardest. If you are out of contract, switching is the single most effective step, and the comparison sites regulated by the CRU show the full market.
Submit a meter reading before the price change date. Suppliers estimate usage either side of a tariff change, and an actual reading ensures units used before 9 October are billed at the old rate.
If you have a smart meter, look at whether a time-of-use tariff suits your pattern. Night rates are substantially cheaper, and anyone who can shift washing, dishwashing or EV charging after 11pm can offset part of the increase.
The longer game
Tuesday’s Budget may bring energy credits, though ministers have been cool on universal payments. The more durable response is reducing use. SEAI grants cover attic and wall insulation, and from early 2027 a €2,000 boiler scrappage grant will sit alongside the heat pump grant of up to €12,500. Those take months to arrange. The meter reading takes a minute.
