Electric Ireland still had 33,000 customers in the north at the end of last year, despite being the most expensive supplier for households and announcing its plans to exit the domestic market last May.
Just 20,000 customers left the company in the second half of 2024, six months after the ESB Group said it would pull out of the domestic market in Northern Ireland.
The latest figures from the Utility Regulator show Electric Ireland had 33,282 domestic connections in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024.
The biggest beneficiary since the May 2024 announcement has been Budget Energy.
The supplier picked up almost 8,000 new domestic customers between the second and fourth quarters of last year, taking it to 110,433 overall.
SSE Airtricity took 7,059 new customers in the same period, retaining its place as the second biggest supplier to households with 147,893 connections.
The north’s biggest household supplier, Power NI, added just 1,370 new domestic customers over the same period, taking its total to 517,017, the equivalent of a 61% share of all households in Northern Ireland.
It was a bad end to 2024 for Click Energy, which lost 2,572 domestic customers in the second half of the year, leaving it with just 35,797 household connections.
Meanwhile, the new disruptor in the northern domestic market, Share Energy, took almost 3,000 customers in its first full quarter of trading, taking it to 3,300 overall.
Launched in September 2024, it has pledged to return 50% of all future company profits to customers.
PRICE COMPARISON
According to Consumer Council analysis, Share Energy is still offering the lowest standard residential unit price in the north at 25.29p per kilowatt hour (kWh), with a 13.33p standing charge per day on most tariffs.
The supplier, which does not insist on fixed terms or exit fees, announced a freeze on its winter tariffs until at least April.
It followed Power NI’s 4% increase in December.
According to the Utility Regulator, 23,700 customers (2.8%) switched their electricity supplier in the final quarter of last year.
Outside of introductory offers and discounts, most suppliers offer cheaper rates to customers who pay via direct debit and choose to receive their bills online.
Budget Energy currently boasts the lowest domestic tariff on the market at 25.19p/kWh, with a 9.975p standing charge.
But the discounted rate is only available to new customers on a 12 month fixed price contract.
Budget’s standard direct debit rate without a contract is 36.152p/kWh.
The cheapest rate offered by the most popular supplier, Power NI, is currently 29.06p/kWh.
SSE Airtricity’s domestic tariffs ranges from 27.33p/kWh for new direct debit customers to 36.93p/kWh for ‘standard rate 24hr’.
Click Energy’s cheapest tariff is priced 26.02p/kWh (plus 9.873p standing charge), which involves a 24% discount but involves a 12 month contract.
Outside of contract, the tariff rises to 34.243p/kWh.
Ten months after announcing its plans to withdraw from supplying household, Electric Ireland offers just a single tariff for all customer.
Its 36.54p/kWh rate across the board, makes its the most expensive option on the whole for domestic users.
Electric Ireland retains a strong presence in the north’s business and industrial market. The latest analysis by the Utility Regulator shows it accounts for the biggest share of the heaviest users.
Of the non-domestic customers using more than 20,000mWh (megawatt hours) or more, Electric Ireland accounts for almost 50% of the total consumption in the market.
Overall, its business customers account for one-third of all non-domestic electricity consumption in the north.
For a full breakdown of all domestic tariffs available in Northern Ireland, visit the Consumer Council’s price comparison table.