# What is the cheapest Electricity Provider



## Edward33 (1 Mar 2020)

Hi, 

I have checked money guide Ireland and bónkers.ie and it seems that Panda Ireland is the cheapest Electricity provider in Ireland when you include cashback. 

Is Panda Ireland the cheapest provider and would you bother shop around for electricity provider given the differences in most providers bills could be a small amount annually?


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## jpd (1 Mar 2020)

The cheapest supplier changes all the time depending on what the different suppliers offer.

If you change your supplier regularly, once every few years, then you will not save a lot. But if you haven't changed ever or a long time ago, then you are probably paying 300-400 more per year than you should

Whether you consider 300-400 a small amount, is up to your personal circumstances


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## Fidgety (1 Mar 2020)

I change every year and do save money. It’s painful, illogical and a minefield. One important point is the check that there are no ceilings on usage and to avoid level pay arrangements where it seems they take more than they need.


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## NewEdition (1 Mar 2020)

Fidgety said:


> and to avoid level pay arrangements where it seems they take more than they need.


This  is not a reason to avoid. You may get a better deal if agree to level pay.


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## Fidgety (1 Mar 2020)

That may be true but in my case I wasn’t told that it was part of the sign up arrangement.


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## Monbretia (1 Mar 2020)

I did all the shopping around last week as my 12mth contract was up and I did a switch but my present provider Energia came back to me of course offering a continuation of my existing deal with them which seems to be the cheapest unit rate on the market.  Funny enough I didn't see Panda coming up as an alternative in my search.   Anyway I cancelled my switch and stayed with them even though their standing charge was slightly higher than the alternative but averaged out I will do better with the lower unit charge.

I would always at the very least ring existing provider after the year as otherwise you most likely go on to a higher charge if you do nothing.

I rang Sky Friday and got a tenner off my package for the coming year, I really had no notion of cancelling it as I like what I have.   Broadband contract up in coming weeks now and have to look around again for that one.


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## SoylentGreen (1 Mar 2020)

I was researching last week. Bonkers had the cheapest provider, Energia, listed  in grey small print at the top of their lists. Almost invisible.
The second cheapest was in large colourful print. Very visible with special offer through Bonkers available.
I rang Energia to be told that their offer was only available directly through them.
My immediate thoughts were that Bonkers lists the cheapest but does not always highlight them as boldly.


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## Edward33 (1 Mar 2020)

Thanks everyone, I forgot to mention this will be the first time ever I will be a customer for an electricity provider. I will use bónkers and moneguide Ireland and ring the top 3 cheapest to see what's the best deal out there for me


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## RedOnion (1 Mar 2020)

SoylentGreen said:


> My immediate thoughts were that Bonkers lists the cheapest but does not always highlight them as boldly.


A commercial website, which receives commission from certain suppliers, highlighting more prominently the ones they receive commission from? Surely not...

On the whole switching thing, I've electricity only, and I've kind of stopped switching since Electric Ireland stopped reverting back to their standard unit rates once contract is up. I keep an eye on it, but my savings would be very small by switching to someone else for 12 months, plus you have to be ready to switch / negotiate at the end of the 12 months to avoid your unit rate going up 20% if you forget about it. I also get SuperValu points for my electricity bill, and then use the rewards to double their value off my bill. It's not much, but I pay a fiver off every bill this way.



Edward33 said:


> Thanks everyone, I forgot to mention this will be the first time ever I will be a customer for an electricity provider. I will use bónkers and moneguide Ireland and ring the top 3 cheapest to see what's the best deal out there for me


Is it electricity only, or do you have mains gas?
You're right to call directly. Panda for example pay commission through higher unit rates, so you'll sometimes get a different tarriff going directly to them. They also had 2 different rates depending on whether you take cashback or not, but it doesn't seem to be on their website (maybe they've changed with latest price change).


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## Edward33 (1 Mar 2020)

That advise on going directly to providers and the fact that switching may save you small amounts but not significant amounts was my initial thoughts so thanks. 

We will be electricity only and I need to find a provider next Thursday for my move in date. However having said that we are doing works to the house in 6 months time to change from Oil to Gas system. So based on that we are electricity only for now. So I will not be considering gas bundles. 

I think most people I talk to seem to be on Electric Ireland. What questions do I ask them when I call looking for a price? I know nothing at all about electricity - please don't laugh . I ask for rate per unit and whether they do cash back, is it as simple as that. I factor in the cashback for 1 year contracts and just take the cheapest because it is not as if one tastes nicer than the other.

Thanks again!


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## Monbretia (1 Mar 2020)

Unit rate and standing charge are the main thing to compare, make sure you are comparing with or without vat and not mixing the figures.  After then you can add in the benefit of a cash back deal.


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## Andrew Murphy (1 Mar 2020)

RedOnion said:


> A commercial website, which receives commission from certain suppliers, highlighting more prominently the ones they receive commission from? Surely not...



Price comparison websites accredited by the CRU (Commission for Regulation of Utilities) are required to provide customers with as complete as possible a picture of the tariffs currently available in the whole market, i.e. they cannot exclude tariffs of those suppliers not paying commission.

Bonkers must adhere to this accreditation framework so simply list basic details of non-commission paying tariffs, greyed out with no links or price breakdown/comparison, and leave it to the switcher to contact the supplier direct in those cases.

Interestingly I have recently observed that a number of the larger Irish energy suppliers have stopped paying introductory commissions and personally believe that are gaming the accreditation system by ceasing introductory commissions knowing their tariffs are listed on accredited websites no matter what. This is an unfortunate negative side-effect of the micro-managed and highly prescriptive accreditation framework that Bonkers and others have to abide by.

It will be interesting to see how Bonkers responds as more suppliers feel they can ride on the coat tails of those suppliers paying commission as it will become increasingly uneconomic to provide the energy price comparison service without someone paying for it.

If you have trouble sleeping tonight here is some reading material that covers the accreditation framework.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (2 Mar 2020)

jpd said:


> But if you haven't changed ever or a long time ago, then you are probably paying 300-400 more per year than you should



Highly unlikely to be that much.

Eurostat quotes 24c per KWh as the average cost to Irish consumers. Generously assume a 5c average difference between highest and lowest price. To save €350 you'd need consumption of 7,000 KWh per year which is extremely high.

My household consumption for a family of five is about 4,000 KWh.

The last time I switched I was able to save I think about €100 a year combined electricity _and _gas.


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## Edward33 (2 Mar 2020)

Thanks, I guess that puts the potential savings into perspective and for me it is not significant. Having said that, I will be making a few phone calls to save a few Bob


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## Monbretia (2 Mar 2020)

Always worth trying to save a few bob provided you have free calls   I use 4600 units per year in a mainly one person household so like the lowest unit price possible.


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## Threadser (16 Jul 2020)

I switched recently from Bord Gais to Pure Power having researched my options on bonkers.ie. I was quite alarmed when I saw that my first estimated monthly bill was almost as much as my previous two monthly bill. I rang in the readings and asked how they could have come up with such a high estimate but didn't get any satisfactory answer. The one month total was €170 which is way above average usage for a single occupied apartment. This amount would have been taken by direct debit if I hadn't submitted the reading. I will wait to see how the next few months go but I am not sure it was a wise decision to move...


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