Households supplied by Share Energy will pay 12.6% more for electricity from 1 October. The Northern Ireland supplier said the rise is driven by sustained volatility in wholesale markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and instability in the Middle East, and that regulated network and system costs have also become too large for the company to absorb.
Damian Wilson, Share Energy's chief executive, said the firm had tried to shield customers from repeated shocks, adding, "Over the last two years, the energy market has faced one external shock after another." He said the company delayed increases where responsible and took on costs itself, but that the combined impact of wholesale and regulated costs meant the business could no longer keep prices unchanged.
The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland estimated the increase will add about £129 a year to the bills of both credit and prepayment customers. Raymond Gormley, head of energy policy at the Consumer Council, described the announcement as "very unwelcome news" and urged consumers to review how they pay for energy and to contact suppliers if they struggle to top up meters or pay bills.
Share Energy entered Northern Ireland's electricity market in 2004 and serves 41,092 customers, of whom 417 are commercial and 40,675 are domestic. The company is locally owned by businesspeople with experience in the renewable electricity sector. It says it will maintain a commitment to return half of its profits to qualifying customers, and based on current projections it expects the first profit share could be available in 2028.
The supplier said it will notify customers directly with the new tariffs and will offer support to those who may have difficulty paying. Other regional suppliers, including SSE Airtricity, Firmus Energy and Budget Energy, have also announced recent price increases, signalling wider upward pressure across Northern Ireland's market.
Wilson added that if wholesale costs fall the company will seek to pass those reductions on to customers, and reiterated a call for government action to reduce the electricity sector's reliance on gas. For now, the immediate change is higher bills from the start of October and an expanded set of choices for customers who may need help managing payments.
