Last updated: September 2026
Ireland has 11 active energy suppliers competing for your business, and switching between them is free, easy and can save you €300 to €500 per year. Yet many Irish households stay on expensive standard rates long after their introductory discount expires.
The average annual electricity bill in Ireland in 2026 is approximately €1,817, with the average unit rate sitting at around 36c per kWh. That makes Ireland one of the most expensive electricity markets in the EU.
This guide covers every residential energy provider in Ireland, explains how to compare them properly, and shows you how to cut your bills through switching, smart meters, renewable energy and home upgrades.
⚡ Electricity Suppliers in Ireland – The Full List for 2026
All energy suppliers in Ireland must be licensed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). As of March 2026, there are 11 active residential suppliers. Here is a plain-English breakdown of who they are and what they offer.
🔹 The Big Three
Electric Ireland – Ireland’s largest electricity supplier, serving over 1.1 million residential customers. Part of the ESB Group and operating since 1927. Offers electricity, gas and dual fuel plans across standard, smart meter and day/night tariffs. Currently offering 20-24% discounts for new customers. Microgeneration export rate of 19.5c per kWh.
Bord Gáis Energy – Ireland’s leading gas supplier (voted Best Gas Provider 2026 by bonkers.ie) and a major electricity provider. Part of Centrica plc. Offers electricity, gas, dual fuel, smart meter plans plus boiler servicing, EV charger installation and heat pump services. Strong in bundled offerings.
SSE Airtricity – A major supplier with a strong focus on renewable energy. Operates wind farms across Ireland and supplies 100% green electricity. Offers standard, smart and dual fuel plans. Part of the SSE Group.
🔹 The Challengers
Energia – Supplies over 350,000 customers with 100% green electricity. Owned by Arcapita. Offers electricity, gas, dual fuel and smart meter plans. Active in solar panel installation and microgeneration. Currently competitive on dual fuel pricing. Export rate of 18.5c per kWh.
Flogas – Part of DCC plc, supplying electricity, natural gas and LPG since 1978. Offers 100% renewable electricity plans. A good option for rural homes that use LPG and want to consolidate energy billing with one provider.
Yuno Energy – Ireland’s newest energy supplier and currently one of the cheapest overall. Offers both variable and fixed-rate electricity and gas. Strong app with personalised consumption insights and flexible payment options. Particularly competitive for smart meter users. As of March 2026, Yuno offers the cheapest estimated annual bill at approximately €1,289.
🔹 Specialist Providers
Pinergy – Specialises in pay-as-you-go (PAYG) electricity with a strong focus on smart energy management tools. Ideal if you want to closely monitor and control spending without traditional billing.
PrepayPower – Ireland’s largest PAYG electricity provider, serving over 162,000 customers. Our pay-as-you-go electricity guide sets out what the prepay premium costs. Good for budget-conscious households who prefer to prepay rather than receive bills. Also offers gas.
Community Power – Ireland’s first community-owned electricity supplier, generating energy from its own wind farms. Offers the cheapest standard unit rate in Ireland at 28.80c per kWh (March 2026). A genuinely Irish-owned, renewable-focused option.
Waterpower – A small Cork-based supplier offering green electricity from renewable sources including hydroelectric. Serves both domestic and commercial customers.
Go Power – Primarily serves industrial and commercial customers but worth mentioning for businesses comparing options.
💰 Electricity Unit Price in Ireland 2026: How Much Does Electricity Cost?
Here are the key benchmark figures for 2026 (compiled spring 2026 – see the section below for the current cheapest):
🌿 Average unit rate: 36.34c per kWh (standard 24hr urban meter, including VAT) in spring 2026; after the summer price rises the standard electricity unit price is 35-38c per kWh (Electric Ireland 38.04c from 1 July 2026, Flogas 44.00c), with discounted first-year plans at 30-33c
🌿 Cheapest unit rate: 28.80c per kWh (Community Power)
🌿 Cheapest overall annual bill: approximately €1,289 (Yuno Energy, including welcome cashback)
🌿 Average annual electricity bill: approximately €1,817 (based on average usage of 4,200 kWh)
🌿 Average annual gas bill: approximately €1,571
🌿 VAT rate on energy: 9% (temporarily reduced from 13.5%, extended until end of December 2030)
Ireland’s electricity prices are among the highest in the EU. Irish household electricity prices have been consistently above both the Euro Area and EU-27 averages, and the gap widened significantly following the energy crisis of 2022-2023.
The main components of your electricity bill are the unit rate (what you pay per kWh used), the standing charge (a fixed daily fee for being connected to the grid), the PSO levy (which funds renewable energy and security of supply), and VAT.
🔹 Electric Ireland night rate times – and everyone else’s
NightSaver hours are set nationally by the meter, not the supplier: 11pm to 8am from late October to late March and midnight to 9am from late March to late October – nine hours a night either way. The night unit price on a standard NightSaver or smart plan is about 17-21c per kWh against 35-38c by day (Electric Ireland’s current Night Boost plan: day 37.60c, night 18.54c). Dedicated EV plans add a shorter boost window at 6-11c: Electric Ireland 2-4am, Pinergy 2-5am, Energia 2-6am, Bord Gáis a four-hour overnight block. Peak pricing on smart plans (usually 5-7pm) runs 40-45c. Full detail in our night rate electricity guide.
🏆 Best Electricity Provider in Ireland Right Now – Who Is Cheapest?
The honest answer: it changes month to month, because suppliers rotate their new-customer discounts and cashback offers. The pattern through 2026 so far:
🌿 August 2026: Energia leads the main comparison trackers with an estimated annual bill of around €1,562 for average usage (4,200 kWh, urban 24hr meter).
🌿 Earlier in 2026: Yuno Energy topped the table (around €1,289 including welcome cashback), while Community Power held the cheapest standard unit rate at 28.80c per kWh.
🌿 The constant: whoever leads this month, any discounted new-customer plan will beat the standard rate you drift onto when a discount expires – typically by €300-€500 a year.
🌿 Best is not always cheapest: the best electricity provider for you weighs the first-year bill against the standing charge, the exit fee, whether the plan suits a smart or night meter, and the standard rate you land on in year two – a plan that is €40 dearer but has no exit fee can be the better pick if you switch every year.
So treat “who is cheapest” as a question to re-ask annually at switching time, not a fact to memorise: check an accredited comparison site on the day you switch, and compare the full-year estimated bill (unit rate + standing charge + discounts), never the unit rate alone.
🔄 How to Compare Electricity Prices in Ireland – and Switch
Switching energy provider is the single fastest way to cut your electricity and gas bills. The process is free, takes 10-15 working days, and your supply is never interrupted during the switch. Your new supplier handles all the paperwork.
Here is how to do it:
🌿 Step 1: Find a recent bill and note your current unit rate, plan type and annual usage (in kWh)
🌿 Step 2: Check whether you have a standard meter, day/night meter or smart meter
🌿 Step 3: Use an accredited price comparison site like bonkers.ie or switcher.ie to compare deals
🌿 Step 4: Pick the best deal and sign up online or over the phone
🌿 Step 5: Set a reminder for 11 months’ time to compare again before your introductory discount expires
The CRU guarantees you a 14-day cooling-off period after signing a new contract, so you can cancel penalty-free if you change your mind.
🔹 The Annual Switching Habit
Most suppliers offer significant discounts (typically 15-25%) to new customers for the first 12 months. After that, you are moved to their standard rate, which is almost always more expensive. The smartest approach is to switch every 12 months to keep accessing the best introductory deals.
The difference between a discounted new-customer rate and the standard rate can easily be €300 to €500 per year. Many Irish households are overpaying simply because they have not switched in years.
📱 Smart Meters – Are They Worth It?
Smart meters are being rolled out across Ireland by ESB Networks and are available to all households free of charge. They record your electricity usage in 30-minute intervals and enable time-of-use tariffs that charge different rates at different times of day.
A typical smart meter plan splits electricity into three rate periods:
🌿 Night rate (11pm to 8am) – cheapest, often 50-60% less than the day rate
🌿 Day rate (8am to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm) – standard rate
🌿 Peak rate (5pm to 7pm) – most expensive, covering the evening demand spike
Smart meters are particularly valuable if you have a heat pump, an electric vehicle, or a solar battery, as you can shift heavy electricity use to cheaper nighttime hours – or store cheap night units in a home battery. And if your app ever shows wildly inflated usage figures, don’t panic – see our guide to the March 2026 ESB smart meter error, where nobody was actually overcharged.
From June 2026, the CRU will require all major suppliers to offer Dynamic Price Plans, where rates change every 30 minutes based on the actual wholesale cost of electricity. These plans offer the potential for very cheap electricity during periods of high wind generation, though they also carry risk when wholesale prices spike.
🌱 Green Energy – What Does “100% Renewable” Actually Mean?
Several Irish suppliers advertise 100% renewable or green electricity, including SSE Airtricity, Energia, Community Power and Flogas. But what does this actually mean?
In most cases, the electricity physically flowing into your home comes from the same national grid regardless of your supplier. When a supplier says their electricity is “100% renewable”, it means they purchase Guarantees of Origin (GOs) to match your usage with an equivalent amount of renewable generation.
Some suppliers go further. Community Power generates electricity from its own community-owned wind farms. SSE Airtricity and Energia operate significant wind and solar generation capacity in Ireland.
If supporting genuinely Irish renewable energy matters to you, look for suppliers that own or operate their own renewable generation rather than simply purchasing certificates. That said, every supplier’s green offering contributes to demand for renewable energy, which is a positive thing for Ireland’s climate targets.
📉 How to Reduce Your Energy Bills Beyond Switching
Switching supplier is the quick win, but the biggest long-term savings come from reducing how much energy you use in the first place:
🌿 Improve your home’s insulation – attic and wall insulation are the most cost-effective upgrades. SEAI grants cover a significant portion of the cost and grant amounts increased in 2026.
🌿 Install solar panels – over 170,000 Irish homes now have solar panels, generating free electricity and selling the surplus back to the grid. With an SEAI grant of up to €1,800 and 0% VAT, most systems pay back in 4-7 years.
🌿 Upgrade to a heat pump – replace your oil or gas boiler with a heat pump and cut heating costs by around 40%. The SEAI grant of up to €12,500 from February 2026 makes this more affordable than ever.
🌿 Improve your BER rating – a better BER rating means lower bills, higher property value and access to green mortgage rates.
🌿 Switch to LED lighting – replacing all bulbs with LEDs costs very little and can save €50-€100 per year.
🌿 Use a smart meter tariff – shift washing machines, dishwashers and EV charging to nighttime rates.
🌿 Draught-proof your home – seal gaps around windows, doors and letterboxes. One of the cheapest and most effective improvements.
🛡️ Your Rights as an Energy Consumer
The CRU regulates all energy suppliers in Ireland and provides strong consumer protections:
🌿 You can switch supplier at any time with no interruption to supply
🌿 You have a 14-day cooling-off period after signing a new contract
🌿 Suppliers must give you at least 30 days’ notice of any price increases
🌿 If your supplier goes out of business, you are automatically transferred to a Supplier of Last Resort (Electric Ireland for electricity, Bord Gáis for gas) with no gap in supply
🌿 You cannot be disconnected without due process and must be offered a payment plan if you are struggling to pay
🌿 Vulnerable customers are entitled to additional protections
If you have a complaint about your energy supplier that cannot be resolved directly, you can escalate it to the CRU at cru.ie.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Energy Providers in Ireland
🔹 Who is the cheapest electricity provider in Ireland?
It changes month to month: as of August 2026, Energia leads the trackers at around €1,562 estimated annual bill, while earlier in the year Yuno Energy (~€1,289 with cashback) and Community Power (cheapest standard unit rate, 28.80c/kWh) topped the table. The cheapest option for you depends on your usage, meter type and whether you value upfront cashback or lower ongoing rates.
🔹 How many energy suppliers are there in Ireland?
There are 11 active residential electricity and gas suppliers licensed by the CRU. The three largest are Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy and SSE Airtricity.
🔹 Is switching energy supplier free?
Yes. Switching is completely free and your supply is never interrupted during the process. It typically takes 10-15 working days. Your new supplier handles the paperwork.
🔹 What is the average electricity bill in Ireland?
The average annual electricity bill in 2026 is approximately €1,817, based on average household usage of 4,200 kWh per year. This is based on standard rates – switching to a discounted plan can reduce this significantly.
🔹 Should I get a smart meter?
If you have a heat pump, EV, solar panels with a battery, or can shift heavy electricity use to nighttime, a smart meter can save you money through time-of-use tariffs. Smart meters are installed free by ESB Networks.
🔹 What is the PSO levy?
The Public Service Obligation levy is a charge on all electricity bills that funds renewable energy support schemes and security of electricity supply. It appears as a separate line on your bill.
🔹 Can I sell electricity back to the grid?
Yes, if you have solar panels or another microgeneration system. Under the Clean Export Guarantee, suppliers must pay you for surplus electricity you export. Rates are typically 18-24c per kWh depending on your supplier.
📚 Related Guides
🌿 Electricity Prices & Average Bill
🌿 Night Rate Electricity
🌿 Pay-As-You-Go Electricity
🌿 MPRN & GPRN Numbers
🌿 ESB Smart Meter Error
🌿 Appliance Running Costs
🌿 Hot Water Costs
🌿 Electric Heater Running Costs
🌿 Dehumidifiers
👉 All guides and calculators
Climate Jargon Buster is an independent resource providing plain-English information on climate, energy and sustainability topics for an Irish audience. Prices and supplier information in this article are correct as of August 2026 (benchmark unit-rate figures compiled spring 2026, as noted) and are based on data from the CRU, Selectra, bonkers.ie and individual supplier websites. Prices change regularly – always check current rates before switching. For independent switching advice, visit cru.ie, bonkers.ie or switcher.ie.