New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that wholesale electricity prices rose by 14.8% in July when compared with June and were 56.2% higher than July of last year.
While wholesale electricity prices remain 59.9% lower when compared with their peak in August 2022, they reached their highest level since January 2025 last month.
The CSO said that all Energy Fuels were up by 0.6% in the month and were up 19.1% since July of last year.
Commenting on today’s CSO figures, price comparison website Bonkers.ie said that looking at the past six months, which gives a better indication of underlying trends, wholesale electricity prices were almost 30% higher than in the previous six-month period.
Bonkers.ie said the increase is mainly due to the continuing conflict in the Middle East which has seen gas, which is used to generate around 45% of the country’s electricity, almost double in price compared to last year.
There are no easy solutions to high electricity prices in the short to medium term, according to Bonkers.ie.
“While the ultimate goal is obviously to drastically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and natural gas, this will take well over a decade, maybe two,” it noted.
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“And while bringing more renewable energy onto the grid is the correct course of action, building a modern grid which can properly accommodate, transport, and then store this energy (for when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun isn’t shining) will take time and cost money, and will even add to bills in the short term,” it added,
Meanwhile, today’s CSO figures also showed that producer prices for food products increased by 2.7% in the 12 months to July.
The CSO said some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products were fish and fish products, which increased by 9%, while other food products rose by 6.7%.
The CSO noted that producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 4.5% higher in July on the same time last year.
In the 12 months to July, export producer prices rose by 7.6%, while overall producer prices were up by 7.3%.
