From Monday 14 September 2026, Pinergy raises residential electricity prices by 7.6%, which it puts at roughly €169 a year for a typical household. Standing charges do not change. That is why the unit rate rises further than the headline: the 24-hour standard rate goes from 38.32c to 42.02c per kWh excluding VAT, a jump of 9.7%. If you have solar panels, there is a second change that got almost no coverage. Pinergy cut its microgeneration export rate from 25c to 18.5c per kWh on 1 August 2026. Taken together, the two moves leave a typical Pinergy solar household worse off by roughly €44 to €120 a year, even though the electricity it buys has become more expensive.
- Effective date: Monday 14 September 2026
- Typical household cost: +7.6%, about €169 a year including VAT
- Unit rates: +9.7%, because standing charges are unchanged
- 24-hour standard rate: 38.32c → 42.02c per kWh excluding VAT
- Standing charge: 71.25c a day, no change
- Export rate: already cut from 25c to 18.5c per kWh on 1 August 2026
- Customers affected: roughly 28,000
The New Rates, Side by Side
Pinergy publishes its own tariff tables, 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 immersion costs.
| Residential electricity | Until 13 Sep 2026 | From 14 Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24-hour standard rate (ex. VAT) | 38.32c/kWh | 42.02c/kWh | +3.70c (+9.7%) |
| Daytime standard rate (ex. VAT) | — | 43.15c/kWh | — |
| Night-time standard rate (ex. VAT) | — | 30.63c/kWh | — |
| Standing charge (ex. VAT) | 71.25c/day | 71.25c/day | No change |
| Standing charge, urban (ex. VAT) | 77.65c/day | 77.65c/day | No change |
| Residential MicroGen payment | 18.5c/kWh ex. VAT, cut from 25c on 1 August 2026 | No change on 14 Sep | |
On the Standard Smart Tariff the same increase looks like this, including VAT at 9%, which is the number that actually appears on the bill:
| Standard Smart Tariff (inc. VAT) | Until 13 Sep 2026 | From 14 Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day, 8am–11pm excluding peak | 41.77c/kWh | 45.80c/kWh | +4.03c (+9.7%) |
| Night, 11pm–8am | 31.77c/kWh | 34.84c/kWh | +3.07c (+9.7%) |
| Peak, 5pm–7pm | 44.72c/kWh | 49.04c/kWh | +4.32c (+9.7%) |
| Standing charge | €283.47/yr | €283.47/yr | No change |
| Estimated Annual Bill | €1,904.27 | €2,058.92 | +€154.65 |
Why the Unit Rate Rises 9.7% and the Bill Rises 7.6%
Both numbers are correct, and the gap between them is worth understanding because it decides how much solar can do about the increase.
A Pinergy bill has two parts. The standing charge is fixed at 71.25c a day and is payable whether you use a single unit or none at all. The unit rate is charged per kWh. Pinergy is raising the unit rate and leaving the standing charge alone, so the unit rate has to rise by more than 7.6% for the total bill to rise by 7.6%. Run the arithmetic on every published rate and the same figure comes out each time: 38.32 to 42.02, 41.77 to 45.80, 31.77 to 34.84, 44.72 to 49.04. Each one is a 9.7% increase.
Solar offsets unit rates. It cannot touch the standing charge. So the part of your bill that solar can actually reduce is going up 9.7%, not 7.6%, and the part it cannot reach is not going up at all. For once the split works in a solar owner's favour.
The Change Nobody Reported: 25c to 18.5c
On 1 August 2026, six weeks before this price rise, Pinergy cut its residential microgeneration payment from 25c to 18.5c per kWh excluding VAT. Its own Clean Export Guarantee page states the change plainly. The August price announcement lists the microgen payment as 18.5c with no change, which is accurate on 14 September and easy to misread as meaning nothing had moved.
Something had. For more than two years Pinergy paid the highest standard export rate available to any Irish solar home, and it was the main reason to be with them if you had panels. That is over. The best standard rate open to all solar homeowners is now 19.5c, paid by Electric Ireland and SSE Airtricity, and Pinergy sits level with Bord Gáis Energy, Energia and Flogas. Our Clean Export Guarantee rate comparison has every supplier's current figure.
What Both Changes Do to the Import and Export Gap
The number that governs solar economics in Ireland is the gap between what a unit costs to buy and what the same unit earns when you sell it. Pinergy has widened that gap twice in six weeks, from opposite ends.
| One kWh, 24-hour standard tariff | July 2026 | From 1 Aug 2026 | From 14 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to import (inc. VAT) | 41.77c | 41.77c | 45.80c |
| Paid to export | 25c | 18.5c | 18.5c |
| Gap | 16.77c | 23.27c | 27.30c |
In July, a unit used in the house was worth 1.7 times a unit sold to the grid. From Monday it is worth 2.5 times as much. Self-consumption has always been the more valuable half of solar in Ireland, and for Pinergy customers it has just become the decisive half.
One caveat on that table, stated openly: the import figures include VAT at 9% because that is what you pay, while Pinergy quotes the export rate excluding VAT because domestic export credits are administered net of VAT by the supplier. That is the comparison a household actually experiences, not an arithmetic sleight.
A Pinergy Solar Home Is Worse Off, Despite Dearer Electricity
Rising electricity prices normally improve the case for solar, because every unit your panels displace saves you more. This time the export cut pulls harder in the other direction. Here is a typical 4 kWp system generating around 3,600 kWh a year, at the usual Irish range of 30% to 50% self-consumption without a battery.
| Self-consumption | Annual value, July 2026 | Annual value, from 14 Sep | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% (1,080 kWh used, 2,520 exported) | €1,081 | €961 | −€120 |
| 40% (1,440 kWh used, 2,160 exported) | €1,141 | €1,059 | −€82 |
| 50% (1,800 kWh used, 1,800 exported) | €1,202 | €1,157 | −€44 |
The pattern in that last column is the useful part. The more of your own generation you use, the less the pair of changes costs you. Work out where the two cancel exactly and the answer is about 62% self-consumption, which is well above what a system without storage achieves in an Irish home. Below that line, a Pinergy solar household ends up behind.
This is a calculation from stated assumptions rather than a quoted figure, and your own answer depends on your tariff, your generation and your usage pattern. The direction, though, holds for any Pinergy customer exporting a decent share of what they make.
The Battery Case Improves Sharply
A home battery earns its keep on exactly this gap, because what it does is move generation you would otherwise sell at 18.5c into an evening when you would otherwise buy at 45.80c.
In July that arbitrage was 16.77c a unit. From Monday it is 27.30c, an improvement of 63% in six weeks. Battery payback in Ireland still runs long and a battery is not a small purchase, so this does not settle the question on its own. It does move it further than any single change in the past two years. Our pages on home battery storage in Ireland and whether a battery is worth adding work through the cost side.
If a battery is not on the table, the free version of the same idea is shifting load. Dishwasher, washing machine and immersion during generation hours rather than after dark moves units from the 18.5c column into the 45.80c column at no cost. A solar power diverter does it automatically for hot water.
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 45.80c per kWh rather than last year's rate, and to state the expected annual generation and the self-consumption share they are assuming. Free, no obligation.
What Pinergy Customers Should Actually Do
- If you have solar, compare the whole plan, not the export rate. Pinergy's 18.5c is now mid-table, and its monthly payment schedule is still the most frequent in the market. Whether that beats 19.5c paid quarterly depends on your import rate too. Our guide to the best electricity plan for solar owners covers the trade-off.
- If your sign-up discount is close to expiring, act on that first. A lapsed discount and a price rise in the same quarter is a far bigger jump than 9.7%.
- Check whether you are on the right Pinergy tariff. The night rate rises to 34.84c including VAT while the peak rate hits 49.04c. If you charge an EV or run a heat pump, the shape of your usage matters more than the headline rate.
- If you do not have panels yet, the sums improved. The unit rate solar displaces is up 9.7%, and the SEAI solar grant is still worth up to €1,800.
Pinergy Is Not Alone in 2026
This is Pinergy's first general residential price increase since October 2025, and the fifth Irish supplier move of 2026.
- 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.
- PrepayPower, Yuno Energy and Flogas all moved earlier in 2026.
- Bord Gáis Energy follows with a 9.1% electricity increase from 9 October 2026, about €177 a year.
- Energia has notified customers of an electricity and gas increase from 12 October 2026.
Pinergy attributes the rise to prolonged volatility in wholesale energy markets, which its chief executive Enda Gunnell said had "pushed costs to a level that we can no longer absorb". Daragh Cassidy of bonkers.ie noted that year-to-date wholesale costs are almost 20% higher than 2025 and expected most other suppliers to follow before the end of the year. On the evidence of September and October, that has held up. The wider picture is on our page on electricity prices in Ireland in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pinergy is raising residential electricity prices by 7.6% from Monday 14 September 2026, which it estimates at approximately €169 a year including VAT for a domestic customer on typical consumption and standard tariffs. Standing charges do not change. Because the standing charge is fixed, the unit rate itself rises by 9.7%, with the 24-hour standard rate moving from 38.32c to 42.02c per kWh excluding VAT. Around 28,000 customers are affected.
From 14 September 2026 the 24-hour standard rate is 42.02c per kWh excluding VAT, the daytime standard rate is 43.15c and the night-time standard rate is 30.63c. The standing charge stays at 71.25c a day, or 77.65c a day on the urban standing charge. On the Standard Smart Tariff including VAT, the day rate is 45.80c per kWh, the night rate 34.84c and the peak rate 49.04c between 5pm and 7pm.
Yes. Pinergy cut its residential microgeneration payment from 25c to 18.5c per kWh excluding VAT on 1 August 2026, six weeks before the import price increase. The 14 September price change does not alter the export rate again. Pinergy had held the highest standard export rate available to any Irish solar home; the best standard rate open to all homeowners is now 19.5c per kWh from Electric Ireland and SSE Airtricity, and Pinergy now matches Bord Gáis Energy, Energia and Flogas at 18.5c.
Worse off in most cases, because the export cut outweighs the benefit of a higher import price. For a typical 4 kWp system generating about 3,600 kWh a year, the combined annual value of self-consumption plus export payments falls by roughly €120 at 30% self-consumption, €82 at 40% and €44 at 50%, compared with July 2026 rates. The two changes cancel out at about 62% self-consumption, which is higher than a system without a battery normally reaches. These are calculations from standard modelling assumptions, not quoted figures.
It offsets the part of the bill made up of unit rates, which is where the entire increase lands this time, because Pinergy is not changing standing charges. Every kWh your panels generate and you use in the house is now worth 45.80c including VAT rather than 41.77c. What solar cannot do is reduce the standing charge of €283.47 a year, which is payable whatever your panels produce, even in a house that exports more than it imports.
It is worth comparing, but judge the whole plan rather than the export rate alone. Most homes import far more electricity than they export, so the import unit rate usually moves the annual total more than the export rate does. Pinergy still pays monthly, which is more frequent than any other Irish supplier, while Electric Ireland and SSE Airtricity pay 19.5c on their standard terms. Switching electricity supplier in Ireland is free and supply is not interrupted.
Pinergy points to prolonged volatility and elevated pricing in wholesale energy markets, which it links to continued conflict in the Middle East. The company says its hedging strategy shielded customers from much of the volatility but that the scale and duration of higher wholesale prices meant it could no longer absorb the cost. Industry commentary from bonkers.ie puts year-to-date wholesale costs almost 20% above 2025, alongside higher charges for the management and upkeep of the electricity grid.
Published: 12 September 2026. The 14 September 2026 effective date, the 7.6% increase, the approximate €169 annual impact, the unchanged standing charges, the first-increase-since-October-2025 context and the new 42.02c, 43.15c, 30.63c, 71.25c and 77.65c rates are taken from Pinergy's own price announcement of 14 August 2026. The Standard Smart Tariff figures before and after the change, including the 41.77c → 45.80c, 31.77c → 34.84c and 44.72c → 49.04c rates and the €1,904.27 → €2,058.92 Estimated Annual Bill, are from Pinergy's published Lifestyle and Smart Tariffs page. The cut in the residential microgeneration rate from 25c to 18.5c per kWh excluding VAT on 1 August 2026 is stated on Pinergy's own Clean Export Guarantee page. The 28,000 customer figure, the Enda Gunnell quote and the bonkers.ie commentary are from RTÉ's report of 14 August 2026 and Pinergy's announcement. Competing supplier export rates were verified against those suppliers' own pages on 25 August 2026. All sources checked again on 12 September 2026. The 3,600 kWh generation assumption and the 30% to 50% self-consumption range are this site's standard modelling assumptions, and the euro figures and the 62% break-even derived from them are calculations, not quoted figures. Rates and tariffs change; check your own plan before acting.