Electric Ireland Review Ireland 2026
Electric Ireland is the supplier most Irish homes never chose — they simply never left. This review is an audit of that decision. Staying put on the standard rate costs an urban home about €1,868 a year for electricity; Electric Ireland’s own new-customer deal prices the same 4,200 kWh at €1,612. The brand is steady, the app works, the exit fee is small. The €256 gap is the bill for not looking.
Electric Ireland review: key takeaways
- ✓The standard urban 24-hour rate is 38.04c/kWh — an Estimated Annual Bill of about €1,868 at CRU typical usage. New customers pay €1,612 on the 16% plan. Same wires, same units, €256 apart.
- ✓From 1 July 2026 Electric Ireland raised electricity 8% and gas 7.7% — its first increase since October 2022. Standing charges were left alone; the unit rate itself moved 9.5%.
- ✓The range is genuinely full: 24h, NightSaver, smart plans under the Home Electric+ name, gas, dual fuel, a dynamic tariff and Smarter Pay As You Go. Few suppliers cover every meter type; this one does.
- ✓The exit fee is €50 including VAT per fuel, and only inside the 12-month fixed term. Leaving is cheap — which makes staying on the standard rate a choice, not a trap.
- ✓Electric Ireland is ESB’s retail arm and the CRU-designated electricity supplier of last resort. If another supplier folds, its customers land here — the definition of a firm that is not going anywhere.
- ✓Its standard variable rate is among the lower ones in the market, so year 2 stings less than at most rivals. Less is not none: check what you are on before renewal with find your energy supplier.
- checkOne of the lower standard variable electricity rates — the year-2 fall-back is less punishing than most
- checkStanding charges were left untouched in the July 2026 rise
- checkFull range: 24h, NightSaver, smart, dual fuel, PAYG and a dynamic plan
- check€50-per-fuel exit fee is at the cheap end of the market
- checkState-owned ESB scale and the designated electricity supplier of last resort — it is not going anywhere
- closeLoyalty is billed: the standard urban EAB is €1,868 while its own new-customer 24h deal is €1,612
- closeRaised electricity 8% and gas 7.7% from 1 July 2026 — the unit rate itself rose 9.5%
- closeNew-customer discounts of 16–20% are mid-pack, rarely the cheapest year-1 on the market
- closeGreen plans cost more and rest on certificate matching, not separate green supply
- closePay As You Go adds a daily meter service charge on top of standard unit rates
How Electric Ireland scored
Six categories, scored from published rates and Estimated Annual Bills, contract terms, billing behaviour and complaint records — never a supplier brochure.
Electric Ireland at a glance
Plans and estimated annual bills
Estimated Annual Bills (EAB) at CRU typical usage — 4,200 kWh electricity, 11,000 kWh gas — including standing charges, PSO (electricity), carbon tax (gas) and 9% VAT. Urban (DG1) figures; rural (DG2) standing charges are higher. Year 1 is with the new-customer discount, year 2 is the standard rate the same plan lands on. A dash means we have not verified the figure this week — we never invent one.
| Plan | Fuel | Meter | Payment | Year-1 EAB (urban) | Year-2 EAB (urban) | Exit fee / fuel | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EnergySaver 16% | Electricity | 24-hour | Bill pay | €1,612 | €1,868 | €50 | 2026-08-28 |
| Home Electric+ Saver 20% | Electricity | Smart time-of-use | Bill pay | €1,522 | €1,868 | €50 | 2026-08-28 |
| Gas 10% | Gas | 24-hour | Bill pay | €1,499 | €1,633 | €50 | 2026-08-28 |
| Electricity + Gas 20% | Dual fuel | 24-hour | Bill pay | €2,912 | €3,501 | €50 | 2026-08-28 |
| Smarter Pay As You Go | Electricity | Prepay (PAYG) | Prepay | — | — | — | 2026-08-28 |
Who it’s for
Two households, really. The first wants a big, state-owned brand with a phone number that answers, every meter type covered, and no appetite for annual switching — Electric Ireland is the safest version of not bothering, because its standard rate is comparatively low and its exit fee is €50. The second is already here mid-discount and wants to know whether to stay: run the numbers at month 11, ask for a retention offer, and compare against a challenger like Yuno before the standard rate starts.
Get it if
- You want a large, Irish state-owned supplier with every meter type, gas and dual fuel under one roof
- You will take the 16–20% new-customer discount now and diary a check at month 11
- You value a low-ish standard rate as insurance for the year you forget to re-shop
- You need prepay electricity from a bill-pay brand — Smarter Pay As You Go lets you move between the two
Skip it if
- You chase the cheapest year-1 price in the market — challengers like Yuno usually undercut these discounts
- You are on the standard rate now and will not switch or negotiate — that is the most expensive way to be an Electric Ireland customer
- You want green electricity with strong evidence — the Green plans cost more and rest on certificate matching, not community generation like Community Power
- You mainly want prepay — a specialist such as Prepay Power is built for it, though no prepay route is cheap
What they sell
Electricity. The core business, inherited from ESB. Plans for every meter: 24-hour, NightSaver day/night, and smart-meter Home Electric+ variants including a single-rate saver, a day/night/peak plan, a Night Boost window at 02:00–04:00 and a free-weekend-day plan. New-customer discounts run 16–20% for 12 months.
Gas and dual fuel. Gas is sold alone (10% off units for new customers, about €1,499 a year at 11,000 kWh) or bundled. The dual 20% plan came to €2,912 a year at CRU typical usage when we checked. Two fuels means two €50 exit fees if you leave early — worth knowing before you bundle.
Smarter Pay As You Go. A prepay electricity option on standard unit rates plus a daily meter service charge, topped up through Payzone shops, text or the Top Up Now app, with auto top-up when the balance hits €10. Useful for budget control; almost never the cheap option.
Smart and dynamic plans. Beyond the Home Electric+ time-of-use plans, Electric Ireland offers a wholesale-linked dynamic tariff, as the CRU now requires of large suppliers. Dynamic pricing needs a smart meter with good comms and suits homes that can shift load — not evening-peak families.
Our verdict
Audit the incumbent and the first finding is scale doing its job. Electric Ireland covers every configuration an Irish home can have — 24-hour, NightSaver, smart, gas, dual, prepay, dynamic — under a state-owned brand that has been the designated electricity supplier of last resort since 2006. The standard variable rate, 38.04c/kWh after July 2026, remains one of the lower fall-backs in the market, and the €50-per-fuel exit fee is modest. As defaults go, this is a well-behaved one.
The second finding is the cost of being defaulted on. The never-switched urban home pays about €1,868 a year for electricity; a new customer signing the 16% plan pays €1,612, and the smart-meter 20% plan prices it at €1,522. That is a €256–€346 annual gap between the loyal and the new for identical electricity. The July 2026 rise — 8% electricity, 7.7% gas, the first since October 2022 — widened every one of those figures at once, even with standing charges held.
So the verdict splits by behaviour, not by brand. Overall we score Electric Ireland 7.2/10, weighting year-2 fairness and value most heavily: solid on service, flexibility and billing, capped by what its standard rate quietly collects from the households that never look. If you are with Electric Ireland and mid-discount, it is a reasonable place to be. If your bill says standard rate, you are funding the gap — re-contract, negotiate, or find your energy supplier elsewhere. See also how it compares with the gas incumbent, Bord Gáis.
We scored Electric Ireland from its own published rates and Estimated Annual Bills at CRU typical usage (4,200 kWh electricity, 11,000 kWh gas, urban and rural standing charges separated), its pricing terms and conditions, its 1 July 2026 price-change notice, and CRU publications — checked the week of 28 August 2026. Reputation points come from what customers report publicly, not from the supplier. matched.ie is not a CRU-accredited price-comparison site.
Other Irish energy suppliers we review
| Supplier | Score | Fuels | PAYG | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuno Energy | 7.9 | Electricity + Gas | No | App-comfortable switchers chasing the lowest year-1 bill |
| Community Power | 7.4 | Electricity | No | Values-led electricity shoppers who will keep gas elsewhere |
| Energia | 7.3 | Electricity + Gas | No | Households that shop around every 12 months and want the deepest big-brand new-customer discount |
| SSE Airtricity | 7.1 | Electricity + Gas | No | Bill-pay switchers who want a large supplier that is not Electric Ireland or Bord Gáis |
| Bord Gáis Energy | 7.0 | Electricity + Gas | Yes | Gas-heated homes that want one bill |
| Flogas | 6.6 | Gas + Electricity | No | Existing Flogas gas households deciding whether to add electricity, go dual or leave |
| Prepay Power | 6.6 | Electricity + Gas | Yes | Households that need spend control or cannot pass a credit check |
| Pinergy | 6.5 | Electricity | Yes | Prepay households who want half-hourly usage data and will actually use it |
Not sure which fits? Find your energy supplier in 30 seconds. matched.ie is not a CRU-accredited price-comparison site — for the regulated comparators, see CRU.ie.
Electric Ireland: frequently asked questions
Did Electric Ireland put up prices in 2026?+
Yes. From 1 July 2026 residential electricity rose 8% and gas 7.7% — Electric Ireland’s first increase since October 2022, blamed on wholesale costs. It adds about €138 a year to the average standard electricity bill and about €117 to the average gas bill. Standing charges were left unchanged; the increase sits entirely on unit rates, which moved 9.5%.
What is Electric Ireland’s standard electricity rate now?+
Since 1 July 2026 the standard 24-hour rate is 38.04c/kWh including VAT, with an annual standing charge of €250.76 urban or €314.98 rural. At the CRU typical 4,200 kWh, including the PSO levy and 9% VAT, that is an Estimated Annual Bill of about €1,868 for an urban home — the rate most long-standing customers are actually on.
How much do new Electric Ireland customers save?+
The headline new-customer deals in late August 2026 were 16% off units on a 24-hour meter (EAB about €1,612), 20% off on the smart-meter Home Electric+ Saver (about €1,522) and 20% off both fuels on dual (about €2,912). All run 12 months, then revert to standard rates — so the saving versus the standard €1,868 is roughly €256–€346, for year one only.
Is Electric Ireland the same as the ESB?+
Electric Ireland is ESB’s retail supply arm, so your bill comes from the same state-owned group — but ESB Networks, which runs the wires and meters for every home, is a separate regulated business. You do not "have ESB" as a supplier, and switching away from Electric Ireland changes nothing about your connection, meter or reliability. ESB Networks serves all suppliers equally.
Does Electric Ireland charge an exit fee?+
Yes, but a small one: €50 including VAT per fuel if you leave a fixed-term price plan before the 12 months end, per its pricing terms — so €100 on dual fuel. After the fixed term the fee no longer applies, and a normal switch has a 14-day cooling-off period. If the standard rate would cost you €250 more over a year, paying €50 to leave early can still be the cheaper move.
Does Electric Ireland offer pay as you go?+
Yes — Smarter Pay As You Go, a prepay electricity meter you top up through Payzone shops, by text or with the Top Up Now app, with optional auto top-up when the balance falls to €10. You pay standard unit rates plus a daily meter service charge, so it costs more per year than the discounted bill-pay plans. It suits budget control, not bill minimisation.
Is Electric Ireland good value for gas?+
It is middling. New customers get 10% off gas units — about €1,499 a year at the CRU typical 11,000 kWh when we checked — reverting to standard rates of roughly €1,633 after the 7.7% July 2026 rise. Remember the gas incumbent is Bord Gáis, not Electric Ireland, and gas bills carry carbon tax rather than the PSO levy. Price the fuels separately before assuming dual is cheaper.
What happens to me if my electricity supplier goes bust?+
You are moved automatically to the supplier of last resort — and for electricity the CRU designated Electric Ireland in that role back in 2006 (Bord Gáis holds it for gas). Your lights stay on throughout, you land on the incumbent’s standard rates, and you are free to switch again immediately. It is one real advantage of scale: Electric Ireland is the safety net, not the firm that needs one.