From 9 October 2026, Bord Gáis Energy is raising residential electricity unit rates by 9.1% and standing charges by 7.2%. On the standard 24-hour tariff that moves the unit rate from 41.59c to 45.38c per kWh including VAT. The average electricity bill goes up 8.8%, an estimated €14.75 a month, or roughly €177 over a year. Gas rises at the same time: unit rates up 10.6%, standing charges up 7%, an average gas bill up 9.3% or about €11.67 a month. A dual-fuel household is looking at €26.42 a month.
- Effective date: 9 October 2026
- Electricity: unit rates +9.1%, standing charges +7.2%, average bill +8.8%
- Gas: unit rates +10.6%, standing charges +7%, average bill +9.3%
- Standard 24hr unit rate: 41.59c → 45.38c per kWh, including VAT
- Standard standing charge: €244.77 → €262.38 a year, including VAT
- The export rate did not change. Bord Gáis still pays 18.5c per kWh for exported solar
The New Rates, Side by Side
Bord Gáis publishes the full tariff table itself, and the cent-per-kWh figures are more use than the percentage. A percentage tells you how much worse it got. A unit rate tells you what the kettle costs.
| Standard 24hr residential electricity | Until 8 Oct 2026 | From 9 Oct 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit rate (inc. VAT) | 41.59c/kWh | 45.38c/kWh | +3.79c (+9.1%) |
| Standing charge (inc. VAT) | €244.77/yr | €262.38/yr | +€17.61 (+7.2%) |
Customers on the Smart Dynamic tariff are treated differently, and worse on the unit rate: the base unit rate rises 13.7% while the standing charge rises only 4.7%. On the urban version of that tariff the base rate moves from 16.73c to 19.02c per kWh including VAT, with dynamic pricing applied on top. If you moved to a dynamic tariff to make the most of solar or an EV, check your own plan rather than assuming the headline 9.1% applies to you.
Where the €177 Comes From
Any quoted annual figure carries a usage assumption underneath it, and that assumption is almost never printed beside the number. This one can be worked backwards.
The standing charge accounts for €17.61 of the increase, whatever you use. That leaves about €159 to come from the unit rate rise of 3.79c, which implies annual consumption of roughly 4,200 kWh. That is a reasonable middle-of-the-road Irish household, so the €177 is a fair figure for an average home. It is also the wrong figure for your home if you use noticeably more or less.
Take your annual kWh from a recent bill, multiply by €0.0379, then add €17.61. A 3,000 kWh household lands near €131. A 6,000 kWh household with electric heating or an EV is closer to €245. The percentage is identical for everyone; the euro figure is not.
Why Prices Are Rising Again
Bord Gáis attributes the increase to wholesale costs and network charges. Catherine Lonergan, its Director of Customer and Commercial, said that "global conflicts resulting in higher wholesale gas costs, together with rising network charges, mean a price increase is now necessary."
Both halves of that are visible in public data. Daragh Cassidy of bonkers.ie noted that wholesale gas prices have doubled year on year and wholesale electricity costs over the preceding six months are up around 30%. On the network side, the CRU approved the 2026/27 electricity network charges in its decision covering 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, which adds about €41.25 a year, or €3.44 a month, for a typical household.
One thing moves the other way. The same CRU decision cuts the PSO levy by 66% across all customer categories from 1 October 2026, bringing the domestic charge to €0.51 a month. The 2026/27 levy is €41.48 million against €125.38 million the year before. Useful, but nowhere near enough to offset a 9.1% unit rate rise.
What This Does to the Solar Maths
Here is the part the news coverage skipped. Bord Gáis put its import price up. It left its export price alone.
The Bord Gáis microgeneration rate under the Microgen Export Plan is 18.5c per kWh, paid as a credit on your electricity bill. That figure is unchanged by this announcement. So the gap between what a unit of electricity costs you to buy and what you are paid to sell it widens on 9 October:
| Per kWh | Until 8 Oct 2026 | From 9 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to import | 41.59c | 45.38c |
| Paid to export | 18.5c | 18.5c |
| Gap | 23.09c | 26.88c |
Every kWh your panels produce that you use in the house is now worth 45.38c to you. Every kWh that goes out to the grid is worth 18.5c. Self-consumption was already the more valuable half of solar in Ireland; on 9 October it gets 9.1% more valuable while export stands still.
For a typical 4kWp system generating around 3,600 kWh a year, and taking the usual Irish range of 30% to 50% self-consumption without a battery:
| Self-consumption | Annual value, old rates | Annual value, new rates | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% (1,080 kWh used, 2,520 exported) | €915 | €956 | +€41 |
| 40% (1,440 kWh used, 2,160 exported) | €999 | €1,053 | +€55 |
| 50% (1,800 kWh used, 1,800 exported) | €1,082 | €1,150 | +€68 |
Two honest caveats on that table. It uses the standard 24-hour tariff and a flat 18.5c export rate, so a day/night or dynamic plan will give a different answer. And it says nothing about the standing charge, which is the next point.
Of the €177 increase, €17.61 is standing charge. You pay that whether your panels generate 4,000 kWh or nothing at all, and even a house exporting more than it imports still pays it. Any quote that promises to wipe out your electricity bill is quietly ignoring this line. The honest claim is that solar reduces the unit-rate part, which is where most of the increase lands.
The Battery Argument Just Got Slightly Stronger
A home battery earns its keep on the difference between the import price and the export price, because what it does is move generation you would otherwise have sold at 18.5c into an evening where you would otherwise have bought at 45.38c.
That arbitrage was 23.09c a unit. From 9 October it is 26.88c, roughly 16% better. It does not transform the case on its own, and battery payback in Ireland still runs long, but it moves in the right direction. Our page on home battery storage in Ireland works through the full cost side, and whether a battery is worth adding covers the decision itself.
Bord Gáis Is Not Alone in 2026
Bord Gáis is not the first Irish supplier to move this year, and on current form it will not be the last.
- Electric Ireland raised residential electricity 8% and gas 7.7% from 1 July 2026, its first increase since October 2022, across roughly 1.1 million homes.
- Pinergy raised electricity 7.6% from 14 September 2026, about €169 a year for a typical household across roughly 28,000 customers.
- PrepayPower, Yuno Energy and Flogas all moved earlier in 2026.
- Bord Gáis follows on 9 October, affecting over 400,000 electricity customers and around 300,000 gas customers. It is the company's first gas price rise in four years.
Our running summary of Irish electricity prices in 2026 tracks the whole picture as suppliers move.
What to Actually Do About It
- Check whether you are on a discount that is ending. A price rise and a lapsed sign-up discount arriving in the same quarter is a much bigger jump than 9.1%.
- Compare before 9 October rather than after. Switching supplier is the fastest lever available and costs nothing; our guide to switching electricity supplier in Ireland covers the mechanics.
- If you already have solar, check your export rate against the market. Bord Gáis pays 18.5c; the range across suppliers is wider than most people assume, and our Clean Export Guarantee rate comparison lists them side by side.
- Shift usage into daylight hours. With a 26.88c gap between import and export, running the dishwasher, washing machine or immersion while the panels are producing is worth more than it was in September.
- If you have been weighing up solar, the payback figure you were quoted has improved. A quote modelled on 41.59c import is now modelling a rate 9.1% below reality. Ask for it to be re-run.
On that last point: the SEAI solar grant of up to €1,800 is unchanged and stays at that level for 2026, so the grant side of the sum has not moved while the savings side has. If you want the full payback picture rather than the price-rise slice of it, are solar panels worth it in Ireland runs the numbers end to end.
See what solar saves at the new unit rate
Get up to three quotes from SEAI-registered installers. Ask each one to model your savings at 45.38c per kWh rather than last year's rate, and to state the expected annual generation. Free, no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
From 9 October 2026, Bord Gáis Energy is increasing electricity unit rates by 9.1% and electricity standing charges by 7.2%, and gas unit rates by 10.6% with gas standing charges up 7%. The company estimates the average electricity bill will rise 8.8%, about €14.75 a month, and the average gas bill 9.3%, about €11.67 a month. A typical dual-fuel household faces €26.42 a month, around €317 a year.
On the standard 24-hour residential tariff, the unit rate rises from 41.59c to 45.38c per kWh including VAT, and the standing charge from €244.77 to €262.38 a year including VAT, both from 9 October 2026. The Smart Dynamic tariff is treated separately: its base unit rate rises 13.7% and its standing charge 4.7%, with the urban base rate moving from 16.73c to 19.02c per kWh. Check the tariff table for your own plan, because rates vary by plan and by urban or rural classification.
No. The Microgen Export Plan rate stays at 18.5c per kWh, credited against your electricity bill, and the October 2026 price change does not alter it. Bord Gáis does state that the rate is subject to change. Because the import price is rising while the export price is not, the gap between buying a unit and selling one widens from 23.09c to 26.88c, which makes electricity you use in the house more valuable relative to electricity you export.
Partly, and the honest answer depends on how much of your generation you use yourself. A typical 4kWp system producing about 3,600 kWh a year is worth roughly €41 to €68 more per year after the increase than before it, depending on whether self-consumption sits at 30% or 50%. That is set against an average increase of about €177 a year. Solar also cannot offset the standing charge, which accounts for €17.61 of the rise and is payable whatever your panels generate.
Suppliers point to two drivers: wholesale energy costs and network charges. Wholesale gas prices have roughly doubled year on year, and wholesale electricity costs over the preceding six months are up around 30%. Separately, the CRU approved electricity network charges for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027 that add about €3.44 a month for a typical household. Partially offsetting that, the same decision cuts the PSO levy by 66% from 1 October 2026, to €0.51 a month for domestic customers.
Compare, yes, and especially if your sign-up discount is close to expiring. A lapsed discount and a price rise landing in the same quarter is a far bigger jump than 9.1%. Switching electricity supplier in Ireland is free and there is no interruption to supply. If you have solar, compare the export rate as well as the import rate, because a cheap import tariff paired with a poor Clean Export Guarantee rate can leave a microgenerating household worse off overall.
Electric Ireland raised residential electricity by 8% and gas by 7.7% from 1 July 2026, its first increase since October 2022, affecting around 1.1 million homes. Pinergy raised electricity by 7.6% from 14 September 2026, roughly €169 a year for a typical household across about 28,000 customers. PrepayPower, Yuno Energy and Flogas all moved earlier in the year. Bord Gáis follows on 9 October, affecting over 400,000 electricity customers and around 300,000 gas customers.
Published: 11 September 2026. The effective date, the 9.1% and 7.2% electricity changes, the 10.6% and 7% gas changes, the 8.8% / €14.75, 9.3% / €11.67 and 9.1% / €26.42 bill impacts, the Smart Dynamic tariff figures and the 41.59c → 45.38c and €244.77 → €262.38 standard-tariff rates are taken from Bord Gáis Energy's own price change information and tariff pages, checked 11 September 2026. The annual euro impacts (€177 electricity, €140 gas, €317 dual fuel), the customer numbers, the first-gas-rise-in-four-years context, the Catherine Lonergan quote and the wholesale market commentary from bonkers.ie are from RTÉ's report of 9 September 2026. The 2026/27 PSO levy of €41.48 million, the €0.51 domestic monthly charge, the 66% reduction and the €41.25 / €3.44 network charge impact from 1 October 2026 are from the CRU's own decision announcement. The 18.5c export rate is from Bord Gáis Energy's microgeneration pages. Pinergy and Electric Ireland figures are from RTÉ and Electric Ireland's own announcement respectively. The 3,600 kWh generation assumption and the 30–50% self-consumption range are this site's standard modelling assumptions, and the euro figures derived from them are calculations, not quoted figures. Rates and tariffs change; check your own plan before acting.