The average value of a domestic electricity account in arrears is €509
The number of households behind on their electricity and gas payments has risen again.
A total of 323,559 were in arrears on their electricity bills in the three months to July, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) said.
This means one in seven residential electricity customers were in arrears up to July.
July’s figure is up from 319,000 in the first three months of the year.
The average value of a domestic electricity account in arrears is €509.
The number in arrears on their domestic electricity account has shot up from just shy of 201,000 at the start of 2023.
That is a rise of 61pc in the three-year period.
Some 191,000 of the number in some form of arrears on electricity bills are three months or longer behind on their payments, the CRU said.
Just short of 188,000 residential gas customers are behind on their bills, the regulator said.
The average value of a domestic gas account in arrears is €206.
More than one in four residential gas customers are in arrears.
The CRU figures come just a day after another energy provider said it was raising its prices as wholesale energy costs have surged due to the conflict in the Gulf.
Bord Gáis Energy is to become the seventh energy provider to increase its prices.
The second-largest energy supplier in the market is pushing up the cost of electricity and gas and its standing charges for its 715,000 customers from October 9.
The increase in the electricity unit rate and standing charge will see a typical residential electricity customer’s bill increasing by 8.8pc. This works out at an additional €177 over a year.
For a typical residential gas customer, there will be a rise of 9.3pc, which works out at an extra €140 over a year.
A typical dual-fuel household bill will increase by 9.1pc, or €317 over a full year.
Last week SSE Airtricity became the sixth provider to increase prices – electricity by 8.9pc and gas by 9.3pc from October 5.
That move will affect around 250,000 electricity customers and 85,000 gas customers. Bills for dual-fuel customers will rise by 9.1pc.
In addition, customers will be hit with increased electricity standing charges.
Pinergy last month announced an increase in electricity prices, Flogas flagged electricity and gas price hikes in June, while Yuno Energy and Electric Ireland announced increases in May.
Price rises for Electric Ireland’s 1.3 million customers took effect from last month.
European wholesale natural gas prices have hit their highest level in three years as markets assess the potential impact of escalating military activity involving the United States and Iran on liquefied natural gas supplies through the Middle East.
Natural gas was used to generate around 40pc of Ireland’s electricity last year.
From next month, householders are facing a €41 rise in network charges on their electricity bills after a decision by the regulator.
The extra €41 a year, effective from October, is in addition to the current network charges, which average around €500 a year on a typical bill, the regulator said.
Network charges typically make up around 30pc of electricity bills. The regulator said the network charges are to fund an annual investment in the energy network, with up to €18bn required over the next five years.
Ireland has the highest electricity costs in Europe, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.