The maximum price of natural gas for the domestic consumer is set to rise by an average of 9.6% on October 12th following the quarterly review by the Ministry of Industry.
Year to date, the maximum price has risen by 19.6%. The Ministry has changed the formula for calculating the maximum price as it believes the old method does not accurately reflect any increase in price of raw materials. The National Energy Commission wanted to continue with the old formula, which would have meant an increase of around 5%.
Just how many ‘raw materials’ can be involved with ‘natural gas’??
The increase will mean, on average, an extra €1on the gas bill, excluding heating.
T1 (users with low consumption): up 7.5%
T2 (households consuming 5,000kwh to 50,000kwh): up 9.1%
T3 (small businesses consuming 50,000kwh to 100,000kwh): up 11.1%
T4: up 13.3%
Consumer organisations are labeling the increases as ‘unacceptable’, especially as it is double the current inflation rate.