Cost of electricity set to jump after this Friday by over 40% for some Northern Irish customers - here is a full list of the changes and how they will affect you

The Consumer Council has issued a reminder of the pending changes which are kicking in on April 1 – but in some other happy news for consumers, the council’s data shows that both home heating oil costs and motor fuel prices are continuing to fall.

The electricity price hikes are happening because, whilst wholesale energy prices are coming down, changes are being made to the level of the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) subsidy from government, says the Consumer Council.

• Power NI, the biggest electricity firm in NI with 470,000 customers, will see the cost of electricity rise by +14% from April 1, says the council.

What this means in reality:

A year's-worth of electricity at the old, pre-April 2023 rate would have meant that a customer's typical annual bill would have been £847.

But if that same customer were to use a year's worth of electricity under the new rate, it would cost them £966.

This, and the changes below, are a result of a combination of both tariff changes and cuts to government subsidy.

• SSE Airtricity is the next biggest, with over 160,000 customers. Its customers can expect a jump of 37%.

What this means in reality:

Under the old rate, an annual bill would have typically been £899. Under the new rate, it would be £1,229.

• Electric Ireland’s roughly 96,000 customers can expect to see a change of +18%.

What this means in reality:

A year’s worth of electricity would have typically cost £1,059 under the old rate, and under the new rate would cost £1,249.

• Budget Energy users, with over 80,000 customers, are not expected to see a change in price.

What this means in reality:

A typical annual bill comes in at £1,337.

• Those using Click Energy, with 24,000 customers, look set to see their cost of electricity upped by 41%.

What this means in reality:

Under the old rate, a typical annual bill would have been £801. Under the new rate it would be £1,132.

• When it comes to gas bills, SSE Airtricity – with 194,000 or so customers – can expect a +15% hike.

What this means in reality:

A year of gas under the old rate would have been £1,103. Now a typical annual bill will be £1,266.

• Firmus Gas’ bills outside greater Belfast (62,000 customers) look set to drop by -14%.

What this means in reality:

Under the old pre-April rate, a typical annual bill would have cost £1,327; it will now cost around £1,147.

• Within greater Belfast (43,200 customers), Firmus Gas users can expect a -19% cut.

What this means in reality:

The old rate before the April 1 change would have made for a typical annual bill of £1,466. Under the new rate this would be £1,190.

Meanwhile the latest weekly data shows home heating oil is continuing to drop in price.

Back on January 26, the most recent peak, 500 litres cost an average of £454.35.

This has now dropped to £323.35 as of Thursday.

• Where to get the cheapest home heating oil in Northern Ireland as fresh figures show cost continuing to tumble

• Town-by-town guide to where the priciest motor fuel is right now in Northern Ireland