More than 25,000 Electric Ireland customers across the north will see their tariffs automatically cut when they become Power NI customers next week.
Electric Ireland will officially exit from the domestic supply market in Northern Ireland on September 8.
Under a commercial agreement signed with Power NI, Electric Ireland’s 26,000 remaining domestic customers will automatically switch to the north’s largest supplier.
The ESB-owned supplier originally announced plans to withdraw from the residential market in Northern Ireland in May 2024, following a strategic review of its business.
It plans to remain active in Northern Ireland solely as a supplier to businesses and industrial premises.
Electric Ireland has been supplying northern households since 2015.
The supplier first entered the northern domestic electricity market in 2015, some 15 years after it started supplying business customers.
As part of a commercial agreement signed between Electric Ireland and Power NI, customers who do not choose another new supplier before then will automatically become customers of the Energia-owned Power NI.
Around half of Electric Ireland’s 53,000 customers have switched supplier since May 2024.
But Electric Ireland has confirmed it still supplies power to some 26,000 households.
Those households are set to join Power NI in eight days.
It will enhance Power NI’s status as the north’s largest domestic electricity supplier.
It had just under 517,000 domestic customers in the first quarter of 2025, more than three-times the number of its nearest domestic rival, SSE Electricity (143,729).
According to the Consumer Council, Electric Ireland’s domestic customers pay one of the most expensive rates.
The supplier currently charges 36.54p per unit (kWh) for both prepay and direct debit customers.
Based on a Consumer Council estimate of households using 3,200 units per year, that equates to an annual bill of £1,169 per year.
Although many families consume much higher rates of power throughout the year.
Power NI’s tariffs currently range from 29.06p to 30.9p per unit, producing an annual average ranging from £930 to £989.
While thousands of Electric Ireland customers are set to enjoy lower rates under Power NI, other suppliers have claimed they could save even more.
Share Energy’s chief executive Damian Wilson said the supplier currently charges 25.29 per unit, albeit with a standing charge of 13.33p per day.
He claims Electric Ireland’s residential customers could save almost £400 per year with the recently launched local supplier.
Commenting on the major transfer of customers to Power NI, a spokesperson for the north’s Utility Regulator said: “Electric Ireland entered into a commercial agreement with Power NI to transfer any domestic consumers who have not moved to another supplier before 8 September 2025.
“All customers also have the option to move to either Power NI or another supplier before 8 September, with no exit fees or penalties.
“As this is a commercial agreement between Electric Ireland and Power NI, further queries should be directed to those companies.”