PrepayPower says electricity and gas prices will stay unchanged until at least March

PrepayPower says it will freeze electricity and gas prices for its customers this winter, with no increase before March 2027 at the earliest, RTÉ reported on 13 October in Ireland. The announcement gives customers a stated period without another price rise from the supplier after increases in June, although it does not mean their total bills will stay the same.

The company has roughly 200,000 customers, according to RTÉ. It serves about 180,000 electricity customers and 60,000 gas customers; customers who buy both fuels appear in both category counts. The pledge concerns PrepayPower's own electricity and gas prices. It does not establish a freeze across Ireland's other energy suppliers.

How long PrepayPower says its winter freeze will last

RTÉ reported the commitment as no price increases before March 2027 at the earliest. That wording sets a minimum period for the pledge, rather than a date on which prices will change. The available report does not set out detailed tariff terms or identify any eligibility exceptions, so customers cannot infer from the announcement alone how every component of a tariff will be treated.

The promise follows increases announced in June, when PrepayPower raised electricity prices by 8.8% and gas prices by 10.6%, according to RTÉ. A freeze now prevents a further announced rise during the stated period; it does not reverse those earlier increases. PrepayPower said it was making the commitment despite rising wholesale energy costs and concerns about European gas supplies, RTÉ reported.

Why a price freeze may not fix household bills

A supplier's price pledge is distinct from a guarantee about what a household pays in total. Consumption can change from month to month, particularly during winter. The report also leaves open whether standing charges and every other tariff component are included. No quantified household saving or realised effect of this announcement is established by the available information.

The wider cost backdrop remains difficult. In its September 2026 Consumer Price Index release, the Central Statistics Office said energy product prices, covering electricity, gas and other fuels, were 15.3% higher than a year earlier and rose 2.9% over the month. Those figures describe prices across the measured products, not a forecast for an individual PrepayPower account.

Overall consumer prices were 4.1% higher in the year to September, up from 3.7% in the year to August, the CSO said. Its housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels category rose 9.5% over the year and 1.2% during September. That broader category includes housing costs alongside energy: the CSO cited higher home-heating-oil and electricity prices, as well as rent and mortgage-interest costs, among the contributors to its annual increase.

What protections apply to customers struggling to pay

Separate from PrepayPower's announcement, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities published additional protections for electricity and gas customers for winter 2026/27 on 12 October. The regulator said they took effect immediately. Its package continues most protections from the previous winter and adds commitments on repayment plans and the help suppliers provide to customers in difficulty.

Under the new measures, repayment plans for customers in arrears must reflect what those customers can afford. Upfront payments must be optional, and repayment periods must run for at least 18 months, according to the CRU. The regulator also said suppliers should first seek practical solutions through their own support arrangements before referring struggling customers to organisations such as MABS or SVP.

The scale of arrears shows why those provisions matter. RTÉ reported CRU figures for July showing 322,234 domestic electricity customers, or 14%, in arrears. The corresponding gas figure was 188,882 customers, or 27%. Average arrears exceeded €500 on electricity accounts and €200 on gas accounts, according to the figures cited by RTÉ. These are account arrears figures, not an estimate of the savings from PrepayPower's pledge.

The CRU says additional customer protections have been in place since 2022 to shield consumers from the severe effects of higher energy costs. Its latest rules address how suppliers deal with payment difficulties, while PrepayPower's pledge addresses its stated prices for a limited period. The next price decision after that period, the detailed tariff coverage and any effect on individual bills remain unconfirmed in the published report.