Irish electric vehicle drivers and home battery owners are being hit with a massive 82% rise in overnight electricity rates.
From 1st August, the supplier Pinergy’s EV Night Time rate between 2am and 5am will jump from 5.99c/kWh (5.1p/kWh) to 10.89c/kWh (9.3p/kWh).
The increase will land hardest on customers who bought electric cars or home batteries and shifted their energy use into the early hours, specifically to save money.
EV drivers use the three-hour window to charge their cars cheaply, while households with solar and batteries can fill their storage systems overnight and use the electricity later when daytime rates are higher.
Pinergy is also cutting the rate paid to households that export surplus solar electricity to the grid. Its Clean Export Guarantee payment will fall from 25c/kWh (21.4p/kWh) to 18.5c/kWh (15.9p/kWh) from 1st August.
That means customers will pay considerably more to charge batteries overnight while receiving less for the solar power they export during the day.
Ireland’s Tánaiste (Deputy PM) Simon Harris described the 82% increase as “extraordinary” and called for greater transparency from suppliers over how electricity tariffs are calculated.
The change comes as Irish households face wider pressure from rising electricity and gas prices following renewed volatility in wholesale energy markets.
Pinergy said it is not imposing a general price rise and the change applies to around 1,800 customers on the EV Night Time tariff, which was removed from sale in May.
The supplier said household electricity use had changed significantly over the past six years as more people installed solar panels, batteries and electric vehicle chargers.
It said the tariff had been reviewed to reflect current market conditions and the cost of providing the service.
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