The Current #012: Your Electricity Bill Changes on 1 October. Here Is the Sum
Shamrock Electrical
The regulator has set what every Irish home will pay in levies and network charges from 1 October, and one goes down while the other goes up. Here is the sum, plus SEAI's finding that one in six energy labels in Irish shops were wrong, a back-to-school energy reset now that some schools go back next week and the rest the week after, and the Fuel Allowance season that opens next month.
What changes on your electricity bill from 1 October
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities published its decision on 29 July. It covers two lines that appear on every household bill in the country, whoever your supplier is:
- The PSO levy (the line that funds renewable energy) drops to 51 cent a month, about €6 for the whole year. Last year it was well over ten times that.
- But network charges (what you pay ESB Networks and EirGrid to run the wires and poles) go up. The CRU puts the increase at €41.25 a year for a typical home, or €3.44 a month.
- Put the two together and the typical bill edges up a little from 1 October, not down. The CRU did trim about €13 off what the network companies originally asked for, but the direction is still upwards.
- This is separate from the supplier price rises that hit in July. It applies to every home, no matter which supplier you are with, and it runs until 30 September 2027.
The honest read: the PSO cut is real but tiny, and the network rise more than swallows it. It is not a big number on its own. It is another small step in the same direction, which is why the habits further down are worth setting now.
One in six energy labels in Irish shops were wrong. Here is how to read one
SEAI is the body that polices energy labels in Ireland, and it published the results of its 2025 shop inspections on 28 July:
- SEAI checked more than 25,000 products in 110 shops. Nearly one in six did not meet the energy-labelling rules, up from one in eight the year before.
- Tumble dryers were the worst: almost half of the ones examined failed. Only one in five of the 55 websites reviewed had good labelling.
- The label matters because it is the only honest way to compare running cost between two similar products before you buy. A missing or wrong label leaves you guessing.
- What to look for: the letter rating (A is best, G is worst, and the scale was reset in 2021 so a new “C” can be better than an old “A+++”), the kWh per year figure printed under it, and for lamps, the lumens (brightness) beside the watts (power used). Two bulbs with the same lumens and very different watts are not the same bulb.
If a label is missing in a shop or on a website, ask for it. Retailers are required to show it, and it is your best guide to what a product will cost you every year after the day you buy it.
Back to school: the energy reset
Some schools go back next week and the rest the week after, and the household routine changes with them. Four places the electricity bill quietly climbs from September, and what to do about each:
- Uniforms and PE gear mean more washes, and this is where the tumble dryer creeps back into daily use. Dryers are the single most expensive appliance to run in most homes. While the weather holds, the line and the clothes horse are free. When you do use the dryer, use the sensor setting rather than a fixed time.
- Check when your cheap hours are. Most smart tariffs and all day/night tariffs have a cheaper window overnight, typically 11pm to 8am, and some suppliers throw in extra-cheap or free weekend hours on top. If you are already up early for the school run Monday to Friday, a wash or a dryer load that finishes before 8am can cost a good deal less than the same load at 6pm. Look at your bill or your supplier's app to see your bands (a standard 24-hour tariff has none). One caution: run the dryer while you are up and about, never while the house is asleep.
- Mornings move earlier. If your hot water is on an immersion, put it on a timer so it heats for the morning rush and switches off, rather than running on a boost that someone forgets about.
- The lights come on at both ends of the day again: kitchen and hall in the morning, homework corner and landing in the evening. Those are the fittings to make sure are on LED first, because they are the ones burning the most hours.
None of this is dramatic. It is small habits set now, before October, so the extra €41 in network charges gets soaked up rather than added on.
Free delivery from the first euro on everything in store. Every listing shows lumens and watts, so you can compare properly.
Fuel Allowance opens next month. Check now if you qualify
Fuel Allowance is the State payment towards heating your home over the winter, and a lot of people who qualify never apply. The season is only weeks away:
- It is €38 a week for 28 weeks (about €1,064 over the season). You can take it weekly or in two lump-sum instalments.
- The season normally starts in the last week of September and runs to April. Last year it began on 22 September.
- You qualify if you are aged 66 or over, or under 66 and on a qualifying payment such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer's Allowance or long-term Jobseeker's Allowance, and you pass a means test. The means test for over-66s is more generous than most people assume.
- New since January 2026: families on the Working Family Payment can now get Fuel Allowance too, provided nobody else in the household is already receiving it. If you were told no in the past because you were working, it is worth checking again.
- Only one payment per household. Apply through MyWelfare.ie or with a Fuel Allowance form (FA1) from your local Intreo centre. Doing it now means the money is there when the season opens.
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Shamrock Electrical Supplies is an electrical retailer and wholesaler based in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. We supply homeowners and professional contractors across Ireland, with free delivery from the first euro.
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Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road
Greenogue Business Park
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98
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Monday to Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 1:30pm
Sunday: Closed