Wholesale electricity prices fell sharply last month and are back to levels not seen since August of last year, according to the latest Wholesale Price Index from the Central Statistics Office.
The price of electricity charged to industrial users fell by 52% in October. This comes after a drop of 27% in electricity prices in September.
The price of electricity on the wholesale market is now cheaper than at any time over the past 12 months and is 37% cheaper than October 2021.
By contrast, consumers saw their electricity bills go up by just over 28% last month and face electricity prices which are 72% higher than a year ago.
Much of the fall in wholesale electricity prices is related to a drop in wholesale gas prices which have fallen by around 70% since their peak in August.
Just this week, ESB ecars wrote to customers of its on-street electric vehicle chargers to inform them prices are increasing by about 50% from December 20.
In a circular to its customers, it said that “sustained higher wholesale energy costs throughout Europe means that we continue to experience a very substantial increase in the cost of wholesale electricity, which we must reluctantly pass onto our customers.”
The circular said the company has “done our very best to maintain prices by absorbing the continued increases in the wholesale energy market over the past few months.”
The company also increased its charges by a similar amount in April.
Today’s CSO figures also show that other costs faced by industry continued to rise in October, with the overall Wholesale Price Index up 8% on an annual basis compared to 6.1% in September.
Prices in the food industry continued to rise sharply with producer prices up overall by 9.4% on an annual basis. Fish products were up 20.5% while dairy products were up 50.7% on an annual basis.
Construction materials rose on an annual basis by just over 16% while building costs including wages rose by 9.9%.
The price of building materials like concrete blocks were up 20% compared to last year with steel up 51% and windows and doors up just over 14%.
The Wholesale Price Index measures what companies pay for raw materials and the prices of products when they leave the factory gate.
Article Source: Wholesale electricity prices down 52% in October – CSO – Robert Shortt – RTE
