The Minister for Finance has said there needs to be further reductions in energy prices so consumers can feel the benefits of changes that have happened in wholesale energy markets.

A number of energy suppliers cut charges for electricity and gas from today with nearly two million customers benefiting from cuts in unit prices and standing charges.

Michael McGrath welcomed the "pass-through" of some of those reductions, however he said Government would continue to engage with energy providers as there has been a significant reduction in wholesale prices despite some uncertainty and volatility in the markets.

Mr McGrath added that there is a realistic prospect of further reductions in the new year.

He said: "The reductions to take effect today are welcome and there is now a realistic prospect of further reductions in the new year.

"We are seeing volatility in the international energy markets, particularly the wholesale gas markets but we have seen reductions in wholesale energy costs so I do anticipate there will be further reductions (to customers) in the period ahead."

The reductions come ahead of the application of the first Government electricity credit in December.

Electricity, gas charges cut

More than 1.1 million Electric Ireland customers will see the cost of their electricity drop by 10% and gas by 12% from today.

Standing charges will also reduce, which will result in saving of €212 each year on electricity and €216 on gas.

SSE Airtricity is also cutting prices for hundreds of thousands of domestic customers, by 12% for electricity, and 10% for gas.

Meanwhile, PrepayPowers' 180,000 domestic customers will benefit from decreases of 12.8% and 13.5% on electricity and gas charges, respectively.

Other major suppliers will also move on prices in the coming days.

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Flogas will cut its domestic electricity and gas prices on 6 November by 30%, leading to savings of €900 for its electricity customers and €780 for gas customers.

Bord Gáis Energy will cut rates to its 600,000 customers on 9 November.

Both electricity and gas charges will drop by 15.5% from that day, giving annual savings of €274 to gas customers and €357 to electricity customers.

These latest price cuts come after some other energy companies including Energia and Pinenergy already cut their rates.

However, the price cuts come after a period of steep domestic energy cost increases and remain higher than they were 18 months ago.

All the major companies increased prices as wholesale energy prices rose, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

However, there has been much criticism of companies more recently, as wholesale energy prices fell dramatically, with no apparent impact on domestic energy prices.

This was demonstrated most recently, when figures from the CSO showed that wholesale energy prices fell 61% in the year to September.

Meanwhile, from the beginning of December, domestic electricity customers will also benefit from the first of three Government energy credits, worth €150 each.

The first credit will be applied automatically to accounts next month and the other credits will be applied in January and March 2024.

'It's still going to be an expensive winter'

Darragh Cassidy, Head of Communication with switching website Bonkers.ie said prices will still be very high compared with the recent past.

"The savings are obviously to be welcomed, but we do need to put these reductions today into context. Before today, we saw a lot of huge price increases over the past year or so and it does mean that prices this winter are still going to be about double normal levels.

"So, it's still going to be an expensive winter for households to heat and light their homes and consumers do need to be prepared to get some pretty hefty bills over the next few months."

Mr Cassidy added however, that he is hopeful of further reductions in the new year.

"I'm hopeful we will see some more price reductions in spring by around 10 to 15%, if wholesale prices remain where they are. If there is another shock or another escalation of the war in Ukraine or even in the Middle East you could see prices go back up."