The Quarterly Retail Energy Market Monitoring (QREMM) Report for Q1 (January to March) 2024 is the latest in a series of Utility Regulator reports that provides a range of information about the retail energy market in Northern Ireland.
The QREMM report presents data that we collect as part of the Retail Energy Market Monitoring (REMM) framework. REMM requires network companies and suppliers to submit data on a range of indicators to enhance our transparency around market behaviours and regulatory compliance. We use the information outlined in the report to review the progress and impact of supply competition; build knowledge for regulatory decisions; allow other interested stakeholders to understand more readily the activity within our energy markets; and to help promote the interests of consumers.
Highlights from the Q1 2024 report include:
- Overall electricity switching activity in Q1 2024 decreased from the previous quarter. Domestic customers continue to engage in the market with just over 25,000 domestic switches completed during Q1 2024, a switching rate of 3% (a decrease from 4.3% in Q4 2023). The Industrial and Commercial (I&C) sector also saw a decrease in the electricity switching rate from 2.6% in Q4 2023 to 1.8% in Q1 2024.
- In the gas sector, domestic switching in the Greater Belfast area saw 419 switches completed during Q1 2024 (a decrease from 567 in Q4 2023). The I&C switching activity rate increased slightly from 1.1% in Q4 2023 to a rate of 1.2% in Q1 2024.
- For July to December 2023 (semester 2), the domestic electricity prices for NI (32.9 p/kWh) ranked above the EU median (22.7 p/kWh) but lower than Ireland (33.3 p/kWh) and the UK (36.1 p/kWh). The NI I&C electricity price for the very small connections (which represent c72% of I&C connections) was 30.4 p/kWh, which was higher than the EU median (24.1 p/kWh), the same as Ireland (30.4 p/kWh), but below the UK (33.0 p/kWh). For large and very large I&C customers (c0.02% of connections) NI prices (17.4 p/kWh) were higher than the EU median (12.3 p/kWh), slightly below Ireland (18.0 p/kWh) and below the UK (26.5 p/kWh).
- In the gas sector, for July – December 2023 (semester 2), the domestic prices for NI were slightly above the EU Median (10.5 p/kWh) at 11.0 p/kWh. This was higher than the UK (7.7 p/kWh) but lower than Ireland (14.4 p/kWh). The NI I&C gas price for the very small connections was 9.0 p/kWh, which was below the EU median (9.3 p/kWh), the UK (9.5 p/kWh) and Ireland (11.4 p/kWh). For medium and large I&C connections NI prices (5.7 p/kWh) were higher than the EU median (5.3 p/kWh) and Ireland (5.5 p/kWh) and below the UK (6.0 p/kWh).