Here is why this pair keeps landing on the same shortlist. Both sell electricity, gas and dual fuel nationwide. Both discount hard in year 1 — Energia 30% off electricity units, Bord Gáis 26%. Both raised electricity in October 2025 and left gas alone. Both charge €50 per fuel to leave early. On the published numbers, checked 28 August 2026, they finish within €20 of each other on either fuel in year 1 — a coin toss unless you weigh it by your own usage. So this page does exactly that: the gas-heavy bill and the electricity-heavy bill, run through year 1 and year 2, plus what the stickers hide — Bord Gáis’s loyalty discount, Energia’s missing dual-fuel estimate, prepay, apps and the green claims. Reviews for the long version: Bord Gáis and Energia.
One note before the numbers: matched.ie is not a CRU-accredited price-comparison site (the accredited calculators are listed at cru.ie). Every figure here is our own working from the two suppliers’ published tariffs at CRU typical usage — 4,200 kWh electricity, 11,000 kWh gas, urban standing charges — checked on 28 August 2026. Where a supplier publishes no figure, we print a dash rather than invent one.
Quick comparison
Side by side from published August 2026 prices and contract terms. Green highlights the better figure on each measurable row.
| Bord Gáis Energy | Energia | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 7.0 | 7.3 |
| Elec year 1 (EAB) | €1,531 | €1,382 |
| Elec year 2 (EAB) | €1,977 | €1,789 |
| Gas year 1 (EAB) | €1,388 | €1,394 |
| Gas year 2 (EAB) | €1,498 | €1,518 |
| Fuels | Electricity + Gas | Electricity + Gas |
| Dual fuel | Yes | Yes |
| Prepay option | Yes | No |
| Exit fees | €50 early-exit fee on 12-month fixed-term plans (the plan terms word it per contract — dual-fuel customers should confirm in their welcome pack). No fee at contract end or inside the 14-day cooling-off. | €50 per fuel if you cancel after the 14-day cooling-off and before the fixed term ends (clause 13.4 of Energia’s domestic T&Cs) — €100 on dual fuel. Nothing to pay at contract end. |
Weigh the bill by fuel before you pick a brand
Year 1 is a statistical tie, so start with which meter dominates your spend. On gas at 11,000 kWh, Bord Gáis lands at €1,388 and Energia at €1,394 — about €6 in it, though Bord Gáis pairs its 9% unit discount with what it says is the lowest gas standing charge on the market (€131.69 a year). On electricity at 4,200 kWh on a standard 24-hour meter, Energia’s 30% discount lands at €1,538 against Bord Gáis’s 26% at €1,557 — about €19. A home spending twice as much on gas as electricity should read this page gas-first; an all-electric home should read it the other way around.
The quick-comparison table above shows each supplier’s cheapest verified plan, and on electricity both are smart tariffs: Bord Gáis’s Smart Standard at €1,531 and Energia’s Smart Data at €1,382 — the biggest year-1 gap on this page, but only if you can shift load off Smart Data’s 33.12c 5–7pm peak. Energia’s flat-rate Smart 24 Hour at €1,464 is the safer smart pick and still undercuts everything Bord Gáis publishes. Rural standing charges barely reorder anything: €1,610 (Energia) against €1,623 (Bord Gáis) on standard year-1 electricity. Boards for each fuel: cheapest gas and cheapest electricity.
The 5% loyalty discount meets the 42.65c standard rate
Year 2 is where these near-identical suppliers separate. Bord Gáis rolls lapsed customers onto a 5% loyalty discount on both fuels; Energia rolls them onto its full standard rates. On electricity that flips the year-1 result: Bord Gáis €2,011 against Energia €2,075 — a €64 gap the other way. On gas it stretches Bord Gáis’s lead from €6 to €20: €1,498 against €1,518. The jumps themselves tell the story — drifting into year 2 costs about €454 at Bord Gáis and about €537 at Energia on electricity, €110 against €124 on gas.
Do not over-reward the loyalty discount, though. Over two years with no re-switch, standard electricity totals about €3,568 at Bord Gáis and €3,613 at Energia — €45 apart, when one fresh switch anywhere in year 2 typically saves several hundred. A softer landing is not a good outcome: 5% off Bord Gáis’s undiscounted 41.59c units is still dear power. Treat both as 12-month products — the month-11 playbook is in year 1 vs year 2.
The trap in this matchup: Energia’s discount is deeper precisely because it expires completely. Stay past month 12 and you pay 42.65c a unit — a roughly €537 jump at typical usage, the biggest cliff on this page. If there is any chance you will not re-switch, price the pair on year-2 numbers (Bord Gáis wins both fuels), not year-1 numbers.
One tidy account against an ecosystem with prepay
Both suppliers put electricity and gas on one account, one direct debit and one app, and both make the discounts conditional: direct debit plus paperless billing, or the headline percentage quietly stops. We rate Energia slightly ahead on billing (7.5 against 7) and on service (7 against 6) — Bord Gáis customers report slow complaint handling and long phone queues, which matters more on a dual-fuel account where one login carries the whole house.
Bord Gáis’s counterpunch is breadth rather than polish. It is the only one of the two with Pay As You Go — on both fuels, at its standard tariff rather than a prepay premium — plus boiler-service plans, Hive heating bundles and the Rewards Club. Energia sells none of that: no prepay at all, which removes it entirely for budget-control households (our prepay ranking covers who does it well). A dual-fuel table with these trade-offs side by side is at best dual fuel.
€50 a fuel either way — and both took an October 2025 rise
Contracts are symmetrical: 12-month terms, 14 days’ cooling-off, and a €50 per fuel early-exit fee at both — €100 to walk out of dual fuel mid-term. Energia states it plainly in clause 13.4 of its domestic terms; Bord Gáis words the fee per contract, so dual-fuel joiners should confirm it in the welcome pack. Neither fee is ruinous when a rival’s year-1 discount is worth several hundred euro. How a switch actually runs, fees and all: how to switch.
Recent form matters, because both brands used it. From 9 October 2025 Energia raised standard electricity plans by 10.9% and smart plans by 12.1%, blaming network and system-operator charges. From 12 October 2025 Bord Gáis raised electricity units by 13.5% and standing charges by 12% — about €18.16 a month at typical usage, its first electricity rise in three years. Both left gas untouched. And note the pattern: discounts at both houses apply to unit rates only, so a mid-contract rise flows straight through, and the percentage off never shields the standing charge.
Energia’s wind farms against the certificate small print
Both bills say “100% renewable electricity”, and both claims work the same way underneath: your annual usage is matched with Guarantees of Origin certificates while the socket serves the same single grid as everyone else’s. The difference is what sits behind the certificate. Energia’s group owns and operates Irish wind farms, so its badge is backed by generation assets it actually runs. Bord Gáis’s electricity claim rests on GO matching (subject to CRU Green Source verification) without an equivalent Irish fleet behind the brand.
Flip to the other fuel and the positions reverse in miniature: Bord Gáis supplies 10% of its gas from renewable sources, the only green gas claim in this matchup, while Energia’s gas is unbadged. We score both 6.5 on green — certificate-led claims cap the ceiling — and neither is the pick if green is your first filter: that shortlist is at best green electricity, and the fuel-weight rule applies here too. Electricity-green favours Energia; the only gas-side gesture belongs to Bord Gáis.
Decide by your meter, not the logo
Run the decision as three questions. Which fuel is bigger? Gas-heavy: Bord Gáis, both years (€1,388 then €1,498, against €1,394 then €1,518). Electricity-heavy: Energia in year 1 (€1,538, or €1,464–€1,382 on smart plans), Bord Gáis in year 2 (€2,011 against €2,075) — so Energia if you will re-switch, Bord Gáis if you honestly will not. Do you need prepay? Bord Gáis, full stop; Energia does not sell it. Taking both fuels from one supplier? Then note that Energia publishes no combined dual-fuel estimate — the table below shows the gap.
| Estimated annual bill (urban) | Bord Gáis | Energia |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity year 1 → year 2 (24h) | €1,557 → €2,011 | €1,538 → €2,075 |
| Gas year 1 → year 2 | €1,388 → €1,498 | €1,394 → €1,518 |
| Dual-fuel bundle year 1 → year 2 | €2,867 → €3,510 (smart) | — (not published) |
That dash is deliberate. Energia advertises a 26% dual-fuel bundle discount and average savings of about €760 a year, but publishes no combined estimated annual bill — and because the bundle’s discounts differ from its standalone plans, adding €1,538 and €1,394 does not price it either. We print a dash rather than a guess. Bord Gáis’s €2,867 dual figure is real but smart-meter-only, with a €643 year-2 step. If you want the whole market rather than two names, start at best energy for Ireland or find your energy.
Which should you choose?
It comes down to cost profile, contract terms, and how you like to deal with a supplier. Use this fast decision frame.
Choose Bord Gáis Energy if
Gas is your big bill — your €1,388 beats Energia’s €1,394 in year 1 and the 5% loyalty discount keeps year 2 at €1,498 against €1,518. You want Pay As You Go as an option (Energia has none), or one household ecosystem with boiler cover, Hive and the Rewards Club. You would rather a smaller discount that partly survives month 13 than a deeper one that vanishes.
Check Bord Gáis Energy →
Choose Energia if
Electricity is your big bill and you actually switch: €1,538 beats €1,557 in year 1 on the standard meter, and Energia’s smart plans (€1,464 flat-rate, €1,382 if you can dodge the 5–7pm peak) go lower still. You will diary month 11, because staying puts you on 42.65c units — a roughly €537 jump. A slicker app and account matter more to you than prepay or boiler add-ons.
Check Energia →Advertiser disclosure: we may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. That never affects scores or the winner.
