Northern Ireland’s energy squeeze adds £172 to typical SSE gas bills

Some terminally ill patients in Northern Ireland are turning down services that could improve their remaining months because they cannot afford the electricity, according to a hospice nurse interviewed by BBC Business (direct). Their choices reveal the human stakes behind a fresh round of energy price increases, with households facing higher gas, electricity and heating oil costs.

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s largest natural gas supplier, raised prices by almost 19% on Thursday for 200,000 domestic and small business customers. A typical household in the greater Belfast and west gas network areas faces an increase of almost £172 in its annual bill. The company blamed sharp swings in global energy markets and higher wholesale gas prices—the prices suppliers pay before selling energy to customers. BBC Business reported that UK wholesale gas prices have effectively doubled since the US and Israel began their attack on Iran.

Higher bills, limited relief

Electricity supplier Share Energy also announced a 12.6% increase, adding £129 a year to a typical household bill across its 41,000 customers. Firmus Energy announced an 8.98% gas price rise from 1 October for 77,000 domestic and small business customers in its Ten Towns network, adding around £87 to a typical annual bill. Raymond Gormley, head of energy policy at the Consumer Council, linked rising wholesale costs to Middle East geopolitics.

The squeeze extends beyond homes connected to gas networks. Two thirds of Northern Ireland’s homes use heating oil, whose cost has also climbed amid the US conflict with Iran. Consumer Council data puts the current price of 500 litres at around £560, more than double the level a year earlier. A separate means-tested scheme, with eligibility based on financial circumstances, opened applications last month for £100 vouchers for some heating oil users.

Households will receive an automatic, one-off £63 electricity bill reduction from this month. Customers paying through their bank will see their bills reduced, while pay-as-you-go customers will receive credit when topping up. Those seeking the full discount in one transaction should buy no more than £112 of credit: meters accept a maximum payment of £175, so larger purchases mean part of the relief moves to a later top-up. The reduction reflects two support schemes operating in Great Britain, where electricity is regulated separately.

Families and patients face hard choices

For Lucy Kells, a mother of two in east Belfast who is on maternity leave, careful budgeting is no longer enough to keep rising costs under control. She told BBC Business that families with young children cannot simply avoid heating their homes in winter. At Woodstock Library, where she attends a weekly baby class, branch manager Nuala Hyde said more families were using free activities. Older visitors were also coming to keep warm, sometimes staying until closing time.

Naomi Campbell, an urgent hospice care nurse with Marie Curie, said dying at home can bring substantially greater energy needs. Warmth, changing sleep patterns and essential medical equipment all add to consumption, while travel to hospital appointments creates further costs. She said some patients were refusing helpful services because of electricity bills, and others continued working near the end of their lives because they had no other access to money.

“There is no reduction in costs of their electricity, even though their needs are so much higher and essential for their care,” Campbell said.

Marie Curie has called for a social tariff—reduced energy charges for eligible vulnerable customers—for people with terminal illnesses. The next pressure point is whether more suppliers raise prices: Gormley said other suppliers whose tariffs are not regulated could follow. For households already cutting elsewhere, that would leave the one-off relief facing another test.