Warning that prepaid electric meters will cost you more

Households have been warned about the high cost of prepaid meters after electric Ireland offered the option of installation to householders.

Smaller operators have been signing up hundreds of thousands of homes to the pay and go electricity meters.

But up to now, mainstream suppliers have only offered these meters to their customers who are in arrears.

It is believed that Electric Ireland who is the largest supplier of electricity to homes in Ireland will offer a voluntary pay as you go electrical deal. The meter works in a similar way to a credit card for a mobile phone as the meter is topped up.

Electric Ireland, which is the retail name for the ESB, has not formally launched the new option but it confirmed that prepaid meters are available to all its residential customers.

Energy experts said it was responding to the fact that PrePayPower has signed up 60,000 customers since it launched in 2009. The company says it will not cut people off at night or weekends.

The users of the new system must buy credit either in a retail outlet, over the phone or via a credit/debit card.

A new energy provider known as Pinergy is also growing fast according to Simon Moynihan of price comparison site Bonkers.ie.

He said the main attraction of pay-as-you-go, also called prepaid, meters is that it forces people to focus on their energy use and cut their consumption.

PrePayPower claims prepaid meter users reduce their usage by almost 7pc.

Half of all households in the North have prepaid meters, Mr Moynihan said.

But he warned that people who sign up for a meter and no longer get a bill will ultimately end up paying more for electricity.

Pinergy: https://pinergy.ie/

Electric Ireland: https://www.electricireland.ie