The Quarterly Retail Energy Market Monitoring (QREMM) Report for Q3 2024 is the latest in a series of Utility Regulator reports that provide 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 Q3 2024 report include:
Overall electricity switching activity in Q3 2024 increased from the previous quarter. Domestic customers continue to engage in the market with almost 22,700 domestic switches completed during Q3 2024, a switching rate of 2.7% (an increase from 2.6% in Q2 2024). Similarly, the I&C sector saw no change in the electricity switching rate for the third quarter in a row, remaining at 1.8% from Q1 2024.
In the gas sector, domestic switching in the Greater Belfast area saw c261 switches completed during Q3 2024 (a decrease from c490 in Q2 2024). I&C switching saw an increase in switching activity from 1.0% in Q2 2024 to 1.1% in Q3 2024.
For semester 1 (January to June) 2024 the domestic electricity prices for NI (32.0 p/kWh), very close to Ireland (31.9 p/kWh) and the UK (31.2 p/kWh). The EU median was (23.3 p/kWh). Since April 2024 there has been a downward adjustment of the NI’s regulated tariffs for domestic consumers, this adjustment has not been fully reflected in this report due to the mismatch in time horizons.
The NI I&C electricity price for the Very Small connections (which represent c71% of I&C connections) was 26.6 p/kWh, which was lower than the UK (31,8 p/kWh) and Ireland (27.7 p/kWh) but higher than the EU median (21.9 p/kWh). For Large and Very Large I&C customers (c0.01% of connections) NI prices (15.6 p/kWh) slightly below Ireland (17.2 p/kWh) and significantly below the UK (25.7 p/kWh) but again higher than the EU median (10.2 p/kWh).
In the gas sector, for semester 1 (January – June) domestic gas prices for NI (11.0 p/kWh) were slightly above Ireland (10.9 p/kWh). This was also higher than the UK (7.3 p/kWh) and the EU (10.1 p/kWh). The NI I&C gas price for the Very Small connections was 8.0 p/kWh, which was below the EU median (8.2 p/kWh), Ireland (9.4 p/kWh) and the UK (9.5 p/kWh). For Medium and Large I&C customers NI gas prices (5.7p/kWh) were higher than the EU median (4.8 p/kWh) and Ireland (4.9 p/kWh) and below the UK (6.0 p/kWh).