Electric Ireland is increasing residential electricity and gas prices from July 1st.

Electricity bills will go up by 8% and gas bills by 7.7%.

The company is blaming the conflict in the Middle East for putting upward pressure on wholesale energy markets.

It says its the first increase in prices since October 2022.

Pat Fenlon, Executive Director, Electric Ireland says: "The conflict in the Middle East continues to drive volatility in wholesale energy costs which have increased significantly.

"Last winter, we acted to protect our customers by reducing gas prices and holding electricity rates steady during the period of highest demand, while most other suppliers increased their prices.

"The current change represents the first price increase since October 2022; unfortunately, we cannot delay this increase any further due to the sustained upward price pressure on our wholesale energy costs."

Daragh Cassidy from bonkers.ie says "Today’s news was expected and I’m surprised it didn’t come a bit sooner to be honest. Last autumn, most of the major energy suppliers increased their electricity prices by between 10% and 15% due to sustained high wholesale electricity costs and higher network charges for maintaining the electricity grid. But Electric Ireland instead announced an electricity “price freeze” for the winter months, alongside a small cut in gas prices. So this increase effectively brings its electricity prices back into line with the rest of the market.

"So while today’s announcement will understandably worry households, it’s not necessarily the start of another widespread round of electricity price hikes across the market. Even after this increase, for example, Electric Ireland’s standard electricity rates will still be lower than most of the other suppliers in the market.

"That said, the picture for gas is slightly different. Wholesale gas prices have risen by around 40% to 50% in recent weeks following renewed conflict in the Middle East and this is likely to put upward pressure on gas prices across the wider market.

"Despite the rising prices, there is still strong competition among energy suppliers for new customers and many are offering significant introductory discounts to those who switch.

"I can’t stress enough how quick and easy it is to switch supplier. The entire process can be completed online in just a few minutes and customers don’t even need to contact their existing supplier before switching."