Electric Ireland announced last week that it is raising electricity prices by 8% and gas by 7.7% from 1 July 2026. It is the company's first price rise since October 2022 and it means that between now and July, three of Ireland's biggest energy suppliers will have raised prices. If your customers are not already asking about energy efficiency, they will be. Separately, new figures show that housing commencements in 2025 fell by more than 75%, pointing to a significant tightening in new build work from 2027 onwards. This week we also cover electrical certification, fixed lanterns for June, and the five-step approach to getting paid on time.
📰 Industry News
Electric Ireland Raises Prices 8% From July — Three Suppliers Up Since June 1
Electric Ireland, Ireland's largest electricity supplier, announced on 28 May that it is increasing electricity prices by 8% and gas by 7.7% from 1 July 2026. The rise will add approximately €138 per year to the average household electricity bill and €112 to gas. It is the company's first price increase since October 2022.
The full picture of what is landing: PrepayPower raised electricity by 8.8% and gas by 10.6% from 1 June — that already hit 180,000 electricity customers on Tuesday. Yuno Energy announced a 9.5% electricity and 11% gas rise, also from 1 July. All three suppliers cited the Middle East conflict and rising wholesale gas costs as the reason.
What it means for your customers: Irish households are now paying the highest electricity prices in the EU, around 40% above the EU average, and those bills are going up again. Every homeowner you visit between now and July is going to have energy costs on their mind. That is your opening to talk about LED upgrades that cut running costs, smart time switches that reduce overnight consumption, and outdoor lighting that switches off automatically. These are not hard conversations to have when the customer already knows their bill is going up.
Housing Commencements Fell 75% in 2025 — The 2027 Supply Cliff Is Coming
New data shows that housing commencements in 2025 totalled just 16,000 units, down from 69,300 in 2024. That is a drop of more than 75% in a single year. The reason was a rush to beat the expiry of government development levy waivers, which pulled the bulk of construction activity forward into 2024 and early 2025.
The consequence: The 39,000 completions expected for 2026 are largely units that were started in 2024. When those finish, the pipeline behind them is thin. The forward order book for new build electrical work points significantly lower from 2027.
What to do now: 2026 is a strong year for new build electrical work and that work is there to be taken. But contractors who are currently reliant on new builds should be actively broadening their work mix. Retrofit work is funded, in demand and growing at 96% year on year. Commercial fit-outs are steady. The contractors who diversify in 2026 will be far better positioned when the new build cycle troughs in 2027 and 2028.
Government's €8,500 EV Scrappage Scheme Will Drive Wave of Home Charger Installations
The government has announced a new state scrappage scheme offering car owners up to €8,500 to scrap their old petrol or diesel vehicle and switch to an electric car. The scheme is designed to accelerate Ireland's transition away from fossil fuel vehicles and is expected to significantly increase the number of EVs on Irish roads in the coming years.
What is being offered: Eligible car owners who scrap a qualifying petrol or diesel vehicle can receive up to €8,500 toward the purchase of a new electric vehicle. The scheme is targeted at middle-income households and families in rural areas who have been slower to make the switch due to the upfront cost of EVs.
What it means for electrical contractors: Every EV that goes onto a driveway in Ireland needs a home charger. The vast majority of EV owners charge overnight at home, and a proper home charger installation is a straightforward electrical job: a dedicated circuit from the consumer unit, a weatherproof outdoor socket or wall-mounted charge point, and in many cases a consumer unit upgrade to accommodate the additional load. A significant surge in EV uptake driven by this scheme means a direct and predictable increase in home charger installation enquiries for electricians across the country.
Worth noting now: If you are not already set up to quote for home EV charger installations, this is the moment to get ready. Homeowners buying an EV through the scrappage scheme will need a certified electrician. The ones who find you first will use you. A simple addition to your website or social media confirming that you carry out home EV charger installations is enough to start capturing that demand.
⚖️ Compliance Update
Electrical Certification: What You Must Issue, What You Must Keep
Electrical certification is one of those areas where small habits protect you from large problems. Here is a practical recap of what Irish electrical contractors are required to certify, and the record-keeping that goes with it.
When a certificate is required: Any new electrical installation, addition or alteration to an existing installation in a domestic property requires an Electrical Installation Condition Report or a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate, depending on the scope. New full installations require a full Electrical Installation Certificate. Commercial and industrial work follows the same principle — the more significant the work, the more formal the certification requirement.
RECI and Safe Electric registration: Registered electrical contractors are required to notify domestic electrical work to RECI or Safe Electric. The notification triggers an inspection regime. Non-registered contractors working on domestic installations are operating outside the regulatory framework. If you are not registered and you are doing domestic installation work, you are taking on personal liability with no certification backstop.
Record-keeping: Keep a copy of every certificate you issue for a minimum of five years. Many experienced contractors keep them indefinitely. If a dispute arises years after a job, the certificate is your evidence of what was installed and to what standard. A certificate on file has ended many disputes before they started.
Common mistakes: Issuing a Minor Works Certificate for work that required a full Installation Certificate. Failing to include all circuits affected by an alteration. Not retaining a copy. Getting this right costs nothing and protects you completely.
🌿 June: Entrance Lighting and Long Evenings
June evenings in Ireland run past 10pm at the solstice. The outdoor entertaining season is at its absolute peak and the garden lighting conversation is an easy one with every residential customer this month. But there is a specific angle worth focusing on in June that often gets overlooked in favour of floodlights and motion sensors: front entrance lighting.
Fixed lanterns for front entrances and driveways. A well-lit front entrance is one of the most visible and satisfying improvements a homeowner can make. It is the first thing visitors see and the last thing the homeowner sees coming home. A good quality fixed lantern beside the front door or on a garden pillar is a clean, permanent job that makes an immediate difference.
Shop Fixed Lanterns online, trade pricing available, call 01 401 9907 for contractor rates.
Wall lanterns. For side entrances, garage walls, rear gates and patio areas. The same warm effect as a fixed lantern but in a wall-mounted format suited to rendered and brick surfaces.
Outdoor sockets. If you are already at the front or rear of a property running cable for a lantern, it is worth mentioning an outdoor socket at the same time. Garden power on a long June evening sells itself.
🔦 Product Spotlight: Fixed Lanterns
Fixed Lanterns: The Entrance Lighting Job That Every House Needs
Fixed lanterns are one of the most overlooked products in the residential electrical market. Almost every Irish home has a front entrance that could be improved with a proper lantern fitting. Most of the time there is an old, yellowed, half-functional fitting on the wall that the homeowner has been meaning to replace for years. You can sort it in under an hour.
The conversation is easy: you are already at the house for something else and you mention that you noticed the entrance light looks tired, or that they have no front entrance lighting at all. The customer immediately sees the gap. Traditional lantern styles work with almost any house type in Ireland — period terrace, 1970s semi, modern development. It is one of the most universal residential jobs there is.
Fixed lanterns also hold up well in the Irish climate. A quality fitting on a front pillar or beside a door takes the weather without fading, cracking or discolouring for years. It is a job the customer will see and appreciate every single evening.
Shop Fixed Lanterns at Shamrock Electrical
Shop Wall Lanterns at Shamrock Electrical
Trade pricing available on everything. Website prices are retail. Electricians and contractors always get better trade pricing when they contact us directly.
Call 01 401 9907 or email sales@shamrockelectrical.ie
Open a Trade Account and Get 10% Off Your First Order
Cable, trunking, conduit, consumer units, MCBs, RCDs, RCBOs and all switchgear are available in-store at Greenogue. Call or email for stock and trade pricing.
💡 Contractor Tip of the Week
Late Payments: Five Steps to Get Paid Without Damaging the Relationship
Late payments are one of the most common and most draining problems in the electrical trade. Most of the time it is not malicious — it is a customer who let the invoice slip, a business that is slow on admin, or someone who assumed you would chase if it mattered. Here is how to handle it cleanly.
Step 1: Set your terms clearly before the job starts. State your payment terms on your quote and on your invoice — 14 days from invoice date is standard for domestic work, 30 days for commercial. If you never stated when payment was due, you cannot reasonably chase it. Put your bank details and payment methods on every invoice so there is no friction for the customer when they go to pay.
Step 2: Send the invoice the day the job is done. Not the end of the week. Not when you get around to it. The day you finish. An invoice sent immediately signals that you are professional and that payment is expected promptly. An invoice sent a week later signals that you are not in a rush.
Step 3: Send a polite reminder on day 15. Not aggressive, not apologetic. Something like: "Just a reminder that invoice [number] for [job] is now due. Please let me know if you have any questions." Short, professional, easy to respond to. Most late payers pay within 48 hours of a reminder like this.
Step 4: Follow up by phone if there is no response after 7 more days. A phone call is harder to ignore than an email. Keep the tone calm and practical: "I sent a reminder last week on invoice [number] — just checking it got to you." Nine times out of ten there is a simple explanation and it is resolved on the call.
Step 5: For persistent late payers, require a deposit upfront on future jobs. This is not aggressive. It is standard business practice. "I ask for a 50% deposit on all jobs over [amount]" is a sentence that filters out problem customers before you do the work. Most good customers will not blink at it.
📅 Dates to Know: June 2026
- Now: Long evenings at their peak. June solstice is 21 June. Daylight past 10pm. The outdoor lighting season does not get better than this. Every domestic job is an opportunity to mention entrance lighting, garden lighting or a socket outside.
- 1 July: Electric Ireland and Yuno Energy price rises take effect. Customers will be watching their bills. LED upgrades, smart controls and solar conversations are all easier in this environment.
- Now: SEAI retrofit pipeline. Installers are booking out months ahead. If you have capacity for retrofit work and are not yet SEAI-registered, the waiting list of customers is real and growing.
A strong issue for Irish electrical contractors this week. The new build pipeline is delivering in 2026 but contractors who read the forward data need to be broadening their work mix now. Energy costs are rising, which makes every energy-saving conversation easier. And June evenings are the best marketing tool the outdoor lighting range has. Use them.
The Shamrock Electrical Team
Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin
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- Issue 005: Easter bank holiday opening hours, Iran war day 32 escalation, LED emergency bul
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About Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Shamrock Electrical Supplies is an electrical wholesaler and retailer based in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. We supply professional electrical contractors and homeowners across Ireland.
Contractors who open a trade account get competitive trade pricing, reliable stock availability, and a team that knows what they are talking about.
Find Us
Shamrock Electrical Supplies
Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road
Greenogue Business Park
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98
Opening Hours
Monday to Thursday: 7am to 5:30pm
Friday: 7am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 1:30pm
Sunday: Closed
Get in Touch
📞 01 401 9907
✉️ sales@shamrockelectrical.ie
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