ESB / Bord Gais bills

thebaz

Following the massive rate increases the ESB and Bord Gais can now charge its customers , which was based on the spiralling price of oil .
Surely its only right that the increases granted , are now cut , now that fuel/oil prices are dropping substantially.
I know this wont happen, but just prooves to me that the country can be held to ransom by there 2 monopolies, by what they want to charge and how !

jaggeh

bord gais was given a go ahead to raise their prices in light of the raise in wholesale gas prices, however as we have seen there has been an overall drop in price but dont expect bord gais to drop theirs. once they have the go ahead the CER has to look into it before they can order a price drop.

jaggeh

oh and bord gais isnt a monopoly completely. and as far as i know theres 3 new gas companies opening up next year, atm its just Bord gais and Flo gas in the midlands/west

thebaz

jaggeh wrote:

bord gais was given a go ahead to raise their prices in light of the raise in wholesale gas prices, however as we have seen there has been an overall drop in price but dont expect bord gais to drop theirs. once they have the go ahead the CER has to look into it before they can order a price drop.

Have they ever dropped there price ?
My point is that when fuel prices rise , they are quick to seek a price hike ,that more than covers there added cost , but
when fuel pices drop, they wont be as quick to seek a price reduction, if at all.
Oh well consumers in Ireland , will just take it on the chin as usual, as these 2 monopolies cream there increased profits.

parsi

Do Tesco, Dunnes, Spar & Centra or Ford, Peugeot & VW ever drop their prices (overall not just specials) ? No. This whole price increase thing ain't just in a monopoloy situation....

Tazz T

Yes they do drop their prices as evident with the introduction of Lidl and Aldi.

Watch how fast lecky prices drop when the all-Ireland market is opened up in a year's time (unless they put the date back again back again).

parsi

BUt they don't drop them overall - just in the things that Aldi compete on.

Phester

Obviously they only drop prices in order to compete like with like porducts. As long as customers have a choice but still decide to pay the higher price why should they drop the price.

As for the GAS/ Electricity. we don't have any option as domestic users to pick and chose who we are with. There are new suppliers in Ireland but their services are only available to commercial companies.

Take the UK. they have multiple boards, support structures and web sites that compare advise people of what the best product is for them and their services are highly regulated. In Ireland it doesnt matter who does what as long as polititions get paid.

COMREG are the first attempt to try and regulate anything in Ireland and although they are making some progress. Eircom appear to be wining by dragging its heels so much that any competition is killed off before it ever gets a foothold in the sector.