Energy bills are set to increase in Northern Ireland amid the ending of a government support scheme for households from tomorrow.
A rise of hundreds of pounds a year is expected with the removal of the Energy Price Guarantee scheme, which applied a discount to the unit rate of electricity and gas prices.
But from July 1, the saving will no longer apply, impacting all electricity and gas tariffs.
The Consumer Council has issued advice to energy customers as the reduction in government support, which was introduced in Northern Ireland in November 2022, comes into effect.
Raymond Gormley from the Consumer Council, said: “Nearly all energy companies will change their tariffs on 1 July, so we recommend that consumers shop around to ensure they are on the most appropriate tariff to suit their needs.
"To support consumers with the switching process, the Consumer Council’s website has an independent energy price comparison tool to help them get the best deal.
"The main reason tariffs are changing is because the government EPG Scheme, which had subsidised our bills over the winter and spring, has been reduced to zero.
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"This is unfortunate given prices remain around double the pre-pandemic norm.
"However, the scheme will remain in place until April 2024 and the government will review whether it is needed every three months until then.
"So, if energy prices increase significantly in the winter, the Consumer Council will make the argument to government that they should reinstate a subsidy."
It also comes despite energy providers Power NI and SSE announcing earlier this month that they are reducing their tariffs by 7.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively from next month following a review by the utility regulator.
But with the end of the Energy Price Guarantee, customers will actually have to pay more.
As a result, domestic energy bills will increase by 5.1 per cent for Power NI's 500,000 electricity customers and by 10.6 per cent for 200,000 SSE gas customers, as the underlying reduction in prices is less than the government support.
Power NI current average tariff of £1,092 drops to £1,015, while for SSE Airtricity gas supply, the annual bill under these latest increases drops from £1,594 to £1,400.
But the removal of the discounts effectively render those new lower tariffs meaningless for households.
