It’ll be a bit milder this week with spells of rain likely as it remains unsettled. Nonetheless, anyone who didn’t have the heating on the winter setting has certainly changed it now. The checklists of having the boiler serviced, filling the oil tank and stocking up on logs to burn are necessary.
This year, there are no energy credits to help with the burden. The subsidy towards the cost of rising bills was ended in this year’s budget.
Householders are struggling to heat their homes. Photo: Getty Images
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Monday, November 24
But the bills aren’t falling in tandem. The price of home-heating oil has gone up just as the cold snap kicks in.
And this is a big deal, as around one million households use kerosene-based heating oil to keep their homes warm. These houses are largely rural, not energy-efficient and tend to be owned by older people.
Home-heating oil firms claim it is now €300 cheaper for 1,000 litres of fuel in Northern Ireland
In the business world, it’s called “dynamic pricing” when the cost goes up with the high demand. You see it when concerts or big matches take place. The cost of hotels and flights spike – and in some cases the cost of the tickets themselves if the price isn’t fixed.
The pricing strategy allows businesses to adjust prices in real-time based on various factors such as demand, competition and market conditions.
But the oil distributors are blaming international factors for the rise in the price. Rising global demand and the sanctions on Russian oil firms are among the elements concerned.
Oil distributors tend of have less than a week’s worth of supplies on hand, hence the daily fluctuations in prices.
The average price of a 1,000 litres’ fill of an oil tank is about €980. The impact is being felt in the pocket as it now costs €80 more to buy 1,000 litres of heating oil than a month ago. Higher taxes and levies are also keeping the costs high.
Home-heating oil firms claim it is now €300 cheaper for 1,000 litres of fuel in Northern Ireland, making it around 40pc to 45pc more expensive per litre here.
Consumers would be assured international trends were at fault if they saw prices coming down. But around a million households are facing higher prices this winter after a raft of household electricity price rises were implemented last month by Energia, SSE Airtricity, Bord Gáis Energy and Flogas.
The hikes come about despite wholesale electricity prices falling by 18.5pc in October compared with the same period last year, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Wholesale costs are now 74pc lower compared with the peak in August 2022 following on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The price on the bill doesn’t seem to be following the wholesale reductions.
