Rising energy costs add to cost of living for Northern Ireland's consumers

• Published

Households across Northern Ireland face increasing pressure on the cost of living as energy price hikes have come into effect.

Northern Ireland's largest provider of natural gas, SSE Airtricity, increased its prices by almost 19% on Thursday for its 200,000 domestic and small business customers.

That means the annual gas bill of a typical household in the greater Belfast and west gas network areas will increase by almost £172.

The company said "unprecedented levels of volatility in global energy markets and higher wholesale gas prices" had led to the price rise.

Wholesale gas prices in the UK have effectively doubled since the US and Israel began their attack on Iran.

Keeping the house warm is particularly important for parents with young children and babies.

Lucy Kells is a mum of two in east Belfast on maternity leave.

She said she expects the winter months to be difficult because "most people are going to have to have the heating on, especially if you've young kids in the house".

"There's no escaping it - everything feels more expensive and it is more expensive."

She added that, despite "budgeting proactively" and "being as careful as you can with savings and credit cards", rising bills mean people's financial situations are out of their control.

"You have to cut somewhere else and I already feel we are doing that," she said.

Lucy is one of the parents who attends a weekly baby class at Woodstock Library in east Belfast.

Branch manager Nuala Hyde said she has noticed more people using their free activities to combat the rising cost of living.

She said: "As well as families, we have lots of older people coming in now to keep warm."

"We have people coming in who will stay all day, use the computer, have a chat and stay until closing time sometimes, so it is quite evident that we are providing an essential service at the minute when people are struggling," she added.

Ryan McStay is a final year student at St Mary's University College Belfast, where he is studying to become a primary school teacher.

He said he and his flatmates were "shocked" when they received a letter explaining their Firmus energy bills would be rising by 12.5%.

"It shouldn't be normalised," he told BBC News NI.

Ryan said increases like this exacerbate an already serious cost of living crisis for students like him.

"The price of everything is rocketing. You're always second guessing and thinking about how much money have I got."

The 21-year-old, who is from Newry, said the cost of living in Northern Ireland means he plans to move abroad after university.

"I personally believe the best option for me right now would be to leave the country."

'You end up dying not being able to keep your house warm'

Naomi Campbell is an urgent hospice care nurse for Marie Curie. She provides palliative nursing care to patients in their homes.

"Many of them are affected by fuel poverty," Naomi said.

"I think it is getting worse. People are struggling more, and the problem is that your energy needs increase hugely when you're dying at home.

"Somebody is already struggling with the fact that they're dying. To then know that they can't keep their house warm."

Naomi explained that a number of factors contribute to the increased energy needs, including the need to stay warm, different sleeping patterns, and essential medical devices.

She said some patients have turned down services that could help improve their quality of life because they can't pay their electricity bills.

Naomi said terminal illness adds further costs for patients, such as the cost of transport to and from hospital appointments.

"There is a huge problem, and you see that struggle often.

"I'm really saddened. The support is limited, there is very little out there. There is no reduction in costs of their electricity, even though their needs are so much higher and essential for their care."

Naomi added that Marie Curie have called for the implementation of a "social tariff" for people with terminal illnesses, to ease their financial burden.

"It would make such a huge difference to have that bit of extra money in your last months of life, so you're comfortable and you can spend it with your family," she said.

She said some people spend the end of their life working because they "don't have any other access to money".

"You end up dying not being able to keep your house warm. That to me is just devastating."

It comes as Share Energy announced electricity prices will also rise by 12.6% from today.

This will add an extra £129 per year onto the typical household bill of their 41,000 customers.

Head of Energy Policy at the Consumer Council Raymond Gormley said: "This increase has been driven by the continued volatility in wholesale energy costs, caused by geopolitics in the Middle East.

"I suspect some of the other unregulated suppliers may follow suit and increase their tariffs."

Gas prices outside the greater Belfast also rose on Thursday.

Firmus energy has announced an 8.98% rise for 77,000 domestic and small business customers in the Ten Towns network area from 1 October.

That means a typical annual gas bill will rise by around £87.

It comes after an increase of 15.65% in July 2026.

What support is available?

Households across Northern Ireland will get the one-off £63 reduction in electricity bills from this month.

It will be applied automatically without the need for an application.

The reduction is the local outworking of two schemes which apply in Great Britain, which has a separately regulated electricity market.

The schemes are being funded by the UK government.

Bank payment customers will have their bills automatically reduced while pay-as-you-go customers will receive £63 in credit when they top up their meter.

The only complication for pay-as-you-go customers is they should not buy more than £112 of credit if they want to get the discount all in one go.

That is because meters are set up to take a maximum payment of £175. Top ups over this value means the £63 payment will be split over a subsequent top up.

Last month, applications opened for a separate means-tested scheme to provide a £100 voucher to some heating oil users.

It is jointly funded by Stormont and the UK government.

Two thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use home heating oil, the cost of which has also soared in recent months due to the US conflict with Iran.

Data from the NI consumer council suggests 500 litres of home heating oil currently costs around £560, more than twice the price compared to this time last year.

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