Latest quarterly transparency report on NI’s retail energy market published

The Utility Regulator today publishes its latest Quarterly Transparency Report (QTR) for Quarter 1 (January to March) 2018.

We publish retail market Quarterly Transparency Reports at the end of February, May, August and November each year. The reports provide a range of information about the electricity and gas energy supply markets in Northern Ireland. The QTR presents data collected by the UR 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 UR 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; comply with EU Third Package mandatory requirements on market monitoring; allow other interested stakeholders to understand more readily the activity within our energy markets; and to help promote the interests of consumers.

EU pricing comparative data within the report is sourced from Eurostat, and can be influenced by exchange rate movements as well as underlying prices and costs.

The semester 2 (July - December) 2017 pricing data is sourced from Eurostat and individual supplier’s submissions under the REMM framework. The current pricing data illustrates the following:

• NI domestic electricity prices continue to rank amongst the lowest in Europe at 14.2 p/kWh and are considerably lower than the Republic of Ireland (21.0 p/kWh), the EU median (17.8p/kWh) and the UK (16.5 p/kWh).
• The domestic gas prices in NI are amongst the lowest in Europe at 3.98 p/kWh. This is less than RoI at 5.78 p/kWh and the rest of the UK at 4.27 p/kWh.
• For large I&C customers, prices are now equal to those in RoI and are lower than in the UK overall.

Any comments or queries in relation to this paper should be made to: