Energia will reduce home energy prices by up to 20pc, effective from October 3.
The move comes after sustained criticism of energy companies for taking months to reduce prices for households despite a sharp drop in wholesale energy costs.
Huge pressure will now come on the other big players – ESB’s Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy, and SSE Airticity – to follow suit.
Energia said the decision to reduce home energy prices reflected its ongoing commitment to provide the best possible value and service for customers.
The company said Energia Smart meter electricity plan customers would get a reduction of 20pc on their unit rates.
This worked out at an average saving of €357 per year based on the typical annual bill, the company said.
Energia Smart dual-fuel customers will get a cut of 20pc on their electricity and gas unit rates. This will mean an average saving of €682 per year based on an annual bill.
Electricity customers will get a reduction of 15pc on their unit rates. Over a year, this works out at an average saving of €305 per year based on the typical annual bill.
Unit rates for Energia gas customers will fall by 20pc, or a typical reduction of €325 per year based on the average annual bill.
Managing director of customer solutions at Energia Group Ger Ryan said: “The wholesale market has experienced significant volatility over the past two years and we have worked at all times to mitigate the challenges of these costs for our customers.
“This price reduction is a positive step. Our existing customer supports will remain in place to provide any required assistance to customers experiencing difficulty. We continue to review energy market pricing and are committed to providing customers with the best possible value into the future.”
Energia is part of Energia Group and said it supplied more than 828,000 homes and businesses across the island of Ireland with green electricity and natural gas.
Up to now, only Pinergy has cut residential prices.
It announced a second price reduction at the start of this week.
Pinergy’s latest cut of 9.5pc in the unit rate will save a typical family around €220 over a year, including Vat. The latest reduction takes effect from October 1.
There are also hopes consumers could see their energy bills fall in coming months as the market gets a shake-up from a new entrant.
Yuno Energy is promising it could save customers more than €500 a year on their electricity bills by closely monitoring their energy usage at home.
