Find Out If You're Overpaying for Energy
Irish businesses pay some of Europe's highest energy rates. Upload your bill and discover what savings are available—no obligation, no jargon.
How We Compare Your Rate
We check live pricing across our supplier panel and show you what your account actually costs against what it could cost.
What We Compare
Our comprehensive analysis covers every aspect of your energy costs
Unit Rates
Compare day, night, and peak rates across all suppliers to find the best match for your usage pattern.
Standing Charges
Daily standing charges vary significantly between suppliers and can add up over the year.
Contract Terms
We analyse contract length, exit fees, and rollover clauses so you understand the full picture.
DUoS Bands
Check if you're on the correct distribution use of system band—many businesses are overcharged here.
MIC Assessment
Maximum Import Capacity reviews to ensure you're not paying for capacity you don't need.
Rollover Risk
Identify if your contract is about to rollover to expensive default rates.
How Irish Business Energy Pricing Works
Business energy bills in Ireland are more complex than they look. Here's what actually makes up the number on your invoice.
The unit rate printed on a supplier's offer is not the price you pay — the effective blended rate across every component below is. Two offers with identical unit rates can cost noticeably different amounts once standing charges, capacity charges, network pass-through, levies and tax are added in, which is why a comparison has to be run against your specific account rather than read off a headline number.
Unit Rate
The cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity or gas you actually use, split into day, night and peak bands where your meter type supports it. This is the one genuinely market-set component of the bill — it varies by supplier, contract term, consumption band, and DUoS group, which is why it has to be compared against your specific account rather than quoted from a table. If that sounds like your business, see our dedicated SME energy solutions for the full picture.
Standing Charge
A fixed charge regardless of how much energy you use, set by ESB Networks per DUoS group and passed through uniformly by every supplier — it doesn't vary by who you're with. For small businesses on DG5, this is €141.55 a year (about €0.39/day). For larger businesses on DG6, it's €1,320.36 a year (about €3.62/day). What varies between suppliers is the unit rate, not this — which is why a proper comparison has to look at the whole bill, not just the headline rate.
Source: ESB Networks DAC Statement of Charges, Revision 22 (effective 1 October 2025).
Capacity Charge
On DG6 and above (MIC of 50 kVA or more), a separate annual charge applies per kVA of Maximum Import Capacity, on top of the standing charge — currently €49.28 per kVA per year. At the 50 kVA DG6 minimum, that's standing charge plus capacity charge totalling €3,784.36 a year before a single unit of electricity is used. This is exactly why an oversized MIC is worth checking — the charge applies to capacity reserved, not capacity used.
Source: ESB Networks DAC Statement of Charges, Revision 22 (effective 1 October 2025).
DUoS (Distribution Use of System)
Funds ESB Networks' distribution infrastructure. Your DUoS band—DG5 for smaller businesses, DG6 and above for larger ones—determines how much you pay. Rates are published by ESB Networks and approved by the CRU, with a new revision typically taking effect each 1 October. Being on the wrong band is one of the most common and expensive billing errors we see.
Source: ESB Networks DAC Statement of Charges, Revision 22 (effective 1 October 2025).
PSO Levy
The Public Service Obligation levy funds renewable energy generation in Ireland. The amount is set by the CRU and revised annually. Small businesses currently pay €5.65 per month (rate effective 1 December 2025 – 30 September 2026). This falls to €1.93 per month from 1 October 2026. Medium and large businesses pay per kVA of MIC—so if your MIC is set too high, you overpay on this charge as well as on capacity.
Source: CRU, Public Service Obligation Levy 2025/26 (Decision CRU2025108, 31 July 2025, revised rates effective 1 December 2025) and Public Service Obligation Levy 2026/27 (decision published 29 July 2026).
Electricity Tax & Carbon Tax
Electricity for business use carries a small excise duty—Electricity Tax—of €1 per MWh (0.1 c/kWh). Domestic supply is exempt; business supply isn't. Gas bills carry Natural Gas Carbon Tax separately, currently €71 per tonne of CO₂ (roughly 1.28 c/kWh on gas), legislated to rise in annual steps to €100 per tonne by 2030. Neither is large individually, but both are non-negotiable line items on every bill regardless of supplier.
Sources: Revenue Commissioners, Electricity Tax rates; Finance Act 2020 carbon tax trajectory (current rate €71/tonne, effective for gas from 1 May 2026).
VAT
Commercial electricity and gas supply in Ireland is charged at 9% VAT—the second reduced rate, in force to 31 December 2030. This applies to the energy itself. It's a separate matter from VAT on our own commission invoices, which is charged at the standard 23% rate—that 23% is on our brokerage fee, not on your energy supply, and doesn't appear on your supplier bill at all.
Why Rates Vary So Much Between Suppliers
Every supplier passes through the same regulated charges—DUoS, PSO, capacity, electricity tax, carbon tax, VAT—unchanged. None of that is negotiable and none of it varies by who you're with. Suppliers can only really compete on their wholesale purchasing and their own operating costs, and they reprice at different times and by different amounts. That's why the best-priced supplier for your account changes over time rather than one supplier being permanently cheapest.
This is exactly why comparing on unit rate alone doesn't work. Two suppliers quoting similar unit rates can look very different once you factor in standing charges, capacity charges, contract length, exit fees, and how they handle DUoS pass-through. We compare on total annual cost so you see the full picture, not just the number a supplier leads with.
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