This is the matchup nobody researches and everybody lives in. Most never-switched Irish homes sit on one of these two names — Electric Ireland inherited ESB’s customers, Bord Gáis Energy the gas board’s — and when they finally price a move, the first search is the other incumbent. Both are full dual-fuel suppliers now, and both raised prices recently: Bord Gáis put electricity unit rates up 13.5% (standing charges 12%) from 12 October 2025, about €18.16 a month on a typical bill; Electric Ireland raised electricity 8% and gas 7.7% from 1 July 2026, its first increase since October 2022, standing charges untouched.
Neither is the cheapest supplier in Ireland — SSE, Yuno and Energia all undercut both on year-1 electricity, and our full ranking puts both incumbents mid-table. What this page settles is the two-horse race people actually run: which fuel each incumbent prices well, what month 13 does to both bills, and when the honest answer is to split the fuels or leave the pair of them. All figures are urban Estimated Annual Bills at CRU typical usage (4,200 kWh electricity, 11,000 kWh gas), verified on both suppliers’ sites on 28 August 2026. matched.ie is not a CRU-accredited comparison site — the accredited list is at cru.ie.
Quick comparison
Side by side from published August 2026 prices and contract terms. Green highlights the better figure on each measurable row.
| Electric Ireland | Bord Gáis Energy | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 7.2 | 7.0 |
| Elec year 1 (EAB) | €1,522 | €1,531 |
| Elec year 2 (EAB) | €1,868 | €1,977 |
| Gas year 1 (EAB) | €1,499 | €1,388 |
| Gas year 2 (EAB) | €1,633 | €1,498 |
| Fuels | Electricity + Gas | Electricity + Gas |
| Dual fuel | Yes | Yes |
| Prepay option | Yes | Yes |
| Exit fees | €50 incl VAT per fuel if you leave a fixed-term plan early; nothing once the 12 months are up | €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. |
Year one: 26% off a dear rate vs 16% off a low one
The discount percentages are designed to be compared, and they mislead in both directions. Bord Gáis waves the bigger number — 26% off electricity — but off a standard unit rate of 41.59c, the dearer base since its October 2025 rise. Electric Ireland offers a modest-sounding 16% off a lower 38.04c. At the CRU typical 4,200 kWh the big percentage still wins year 1, just not by much: €1,557 against €1,612. Gas flips the pattern: Electric Ireland’s 10% beats Bord Gáis’s 9% as a percentage and loses by €111 on the bill, because Bord Gáis charges 11.17c standard units on what it says is the market’s lowest gas standing charge (€131.69, the same urban and rural).
| Year 1, urban, CRU typical usage | Electric Ireland | Bord Gáis Energy | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity, 24-hour meter | €1,612 (16% off) | €1,557 (26% off) | Bord Gáis by €55 |
| Electricity, smart meter | €1,522 (20% off, single rate) | €1,531 (26% off day/night/peak) | Electric Ireland by €9 |
| Gas | €1,499 (10% off) | €1,388 (9% off) | Bord Gáis by €111 |
| Dual fuel | €2,912 (20% off both) | €2,867 (22% + 21%, smart meter) | Bord Gáis by €45 |
Three footnotes before you sign. Electric Ireland pays welcome bonuses we leave out of the EABs — €120 on the 16% plan, €135 on dual — which close most of these gaps in year 1 only. Bord Gáis’s discounts require direct debit and paperless billing, and stop if either lapses. And its day/night/peak smart plan carries an undiscounted 54.11c weekday peak rate the flat-rate dual bundle avoids. Neither incumbent tops the market: SSE’s €1,492 electricity and €1,166 gas beat both, per our cheapest electricity and cheapest gas boards.
Month 13: a €1,868 landing vs a 5% loyalty slope
Both discounts die at month 12, and this is where the incumbents genuinely differ. Electric Ireland drops you onto its standard variable rate with no cushion — but that rate, €1,868 urban electricity, is one of the market’s gentler fall-backs, a cliff of €256. Bord Gáis keeps a 5% loyalty discount running after year 1 (direct debit and paperless billing required), which sounds kinder — except it applies to the dearest figure on this page: a 41.59c standard rate producing a €2,011 raw EAB, roughly €1,923 with the 5% off, a cliff of €454 either way you count it.
Standard-rate urban EABs after the 12-month discounts end, before loyalty discounts, scaled to Bord Gáis’s €2,011. Green marks the cheaper supplier for that fuel. Verified 28 August 2026.
Gas mirrors the story in reverse: Bord Gáis falls to €1,498 (about €1,437 with the loyalty 5%), Electric Ireland to roughly €1,633 after its July 2026 rise. Electric Ireland has a quieter loyalty lever of its own — existing customers can claw back around 8.5% by combining dual fuel, direct debit and e-billing. Neither incumbent rewards drifting: whichever you pick, diary month 11 and re-shop or ask for a retention deal. The full cliff-by-supplier table is in year 1 vs year 2.
Two full-service apps, but only one prepays the gas
Nobody leaves either of these suppliers for want of an app. Both run proper online accounts and phone lines the challengers cannot match, and we score Electric Ireland ahead on billing (7.5 to 7.0) and clearly ahead on service (7.5 to 6.0) — Bord Gáis customers report slow complaint handling and long waits to get through. Electric Ireland’s prepay offer is electricity-only: Smarter Pay As You Go runs on standard unit rates plus a daily meter service charge, topped up through Payzone, text or the Top Up Now app; we show no EAB for it because we have not verified the all-in annual cost this week.
Bord Gáis’s quieter advantage is prepay breadth: Pay As You Go on both fuels, at the standard tariff — no separate, dearer prepay rate. The trade is symmetrical on both brands: PAYG customers get no new-customer discount, so a home that can pass a credit check nearly always pays less on a discounted billed plan — the sums are on best prepay electricity. Bord Gáis also bolts on the household ecosystem — Rewards Club, boiler-service plans, Hive bundles — pleasant extras that never make a dear tariff cheap.
€50 to leave either — the wording is the only real gap
Contractually these two are near-clones: 12-month terms, 14-day cooling-off, and a €50 early-exit fee at the cheap end of the market — Yuno charges €100 per fuel and Pinergy €150 ex VAT for the same escape. The one difference worth reading is how the €50 is counted. Electric Ireland’s pricing terms say €50 including VAT per fuel, so leaving a dual deal early costs €100. Bord Gáis words the fee per contract — dual-fuel customers should confirm in the welcome pack whether that means one €50 or two.
Either way, the fee is small enough to do arithmetic with rather than fear: if a rival deal saves more than €50 (or €100) over the remaining months, paying it and leaving is the cheaper move — and once the 12 months are up, both let you walk for nothing. The switch itself is the new supplier’s job: MPRN or GPRN off the bill, two to four weeks, supply never cuts. Process in full: how to switch energy supplier.
Two certificate stories, no saint
Both incumbents score 6.5 on green, for the same reason: their renewable claims rest on EU Guarantee of Origin certificates — annual paperwork matching your units to renewable generation recorded somewhere in Europe, subject to the CRU’s Green Source verification — not separate green supply. The same grid electricity reaches every socket in Ireland regardless of the name on the bill.
Within that honest ceiling, the offers differ in shape. Bord Gáis markets its standard electricity as 100% renewable at no extra cost, and says 10% of its gas comes from renewable sources. Electric Ireland’s standard supply simply follows its disclosed fuel mix, with certificate-backed Green plans sold at a premium — you pay extra for the certificate story Bord Gáis includes. If green means Irish community generation, neither incumbent is your answer: see best green electricity.
Pick by your bigger bill, not the logo you already have
The trap in this matchup: almost everyone searching it already has one of these two names on a bill, and brand familiarity quietly becomes the tiebreaker. It shouldn’t be. The household that stays with — or defaults to — the incumbent it already knows is the household funding the €256–€454 loyalty gaps on this page. Price the fuels; ignore the nostalgia.
The clean decision rule: all-electric or electricity-heavy, Electric Ireland — cheaper smart-meter year 1 (€1,522), a €143 lower standard rate in year 2, gentler cliff. Gas-heated with the gas bill dominant, Bord Gáis — €111 cheaper year 1, €135 cheaper at standard rates, lowest standing charge. On dual, Bord Gáis’s €2,867 beats €2,912 in year 1 — but a bundle is convenience, not a price floor: the cheapest verified pair of contracts costs €2,461, per best dual fuel, and Bord Gáis gas beside a cheaper electricity brand often beats either bundle. Sixty seconds with find your energy settles which profile you are.
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 Electric Ireland if
Your home is all-electric or electricity is the bigger bill. Electric Ireland’s €1,868 standard rate is the softer year-2 landing (€256 above its own year-1 deal, against Bord Gáis’s €454 cliff), its smart-meter 20% plan at €1,522 beats anything Bord Gáis sells in year 1, and welcome bonuses of €120–€135 narrow the headline gaps. You want a state-owned brand, every meter type, and a clear €50-per-fuel exit if you change your mind.
Check Electric Ireland →
Choose Bord Gáis Energy if
Gas heats your home and the gas bill is the one that stings: €1,388 year 1 against Electric Ireland’s €1,499, €1,498 year 2 against roughly €1,633, on a €131.69 standing charge Bord Gáis says is the market’s lowest. You will keep direct debit and paperless billing running — the 26% year-1 discount and the 5% loyalty discount both depend on them — or you want Pay As You Go on both fuels at the standard tariff, with no prepay premium rate.
Check Bord Gáis Energy →Advertiser disclosure: we may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. That never affects scores or the winner.
