SSE Airtricity electricity tariffs to rise 6.2% from 1 August 2026

SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland's second largest electricity supplier, has announced that it will increase electricity tariffs by 6.2% from 1 August 2026¹. The change will add around £76 a year to the typical customer's bill¹.

The announcement was reported by the Consumer Council, which publishes supplier tariff changes for Northern Ireland households¹. SSE Airtricity supplies both electricity and gas in the region, and the same supplier has separately announced an increase of 19.2% for gas customers, effective from 1 October 2026, which the Consumer Council says will impact around 204,000 domestic gas customers throughout the Greater Belfast and West network areas¹.

The electricity rise sits within a run of tariff changes across Northern Ireland suppliers. Power NI, the region's biggest electricity supplier, is set to increase its residential tariff by 6.2% from 1 July 2026¹. Budget Energy, the third largest electricity supplier, will raise its variable electricity tariffs by 9.5% from 4 August 2026, adding around £122 a year¹. Share Energy will increase its standard 24 hour electricity tariff by 12.6% from 1 October 2026¹. Earlier in the year, Click Energy raised its electricity tariff by 9.5% and Share Energy by 26.4%, both effective from 1 April 2026¹.

Gas tariffs have moved in both directions. firmus energy announced a 15.65% increase on regulated gas tariffs for domestic and small business customers in the Ten Towns network areas from 1 July 2026, followed by a further 8.98% increase in Ten Towns and a 12.5% increase in the Greater Belfast network from 4 September 2026¹. In March 2026, firmus energy announced a 10.10% reduction on regulated gas tariffs in the Ten Towns areas, effective from 1 April 2026¹.

The Consumer Council has also welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority Heating Oil Market Study, which was commissioned following the sharp rise in heating oil prices after the conflict in the Middle East¹.

Why it matters for households

For a household in Northern Ireland, the electricity tariff is the price of the power that runs lighting, appliances, heating controls and, increasingly, home charging. A 6.2% rise on the SSE Airtricity electricity tariff adds around £76 a year to a typical bill, and it arrives alongside increases from other suppliers and, for SSE Airtricity's own gas customers, a much larger 19.2% rise in October¹. Households that buy their electricity from one supplier and their gas from another face the combined effect of both sets of changes.

Energy independence at home rests on knowing which tariff applies, what it costs per unit and standing charge, and how much of the annual bill is fixed rather than avoidable through lower use. Northern Ireland has no smart electricity meters at present; the Department for the Economy has announced plans for a rollout to all homes starting in 2028². Without them, time-of-use pricing and detailed consumption data are not available to most households, which limits the scope for shifting use to cheaper periods.

The Consumer Council operates electricity and gas price comparison tools and an appliance cost checker for Northern Ireland consumers². Tariff changes of this kind are announced by suppliers and published by the Consumer Council rather than set through the GB price cap, so the relevant reference point for a Northern Ireland household is the supplier's own tariff schedule and the comparison tables.

What happens next

The SSE Airtricity electricity increase takes effect on 1 August 2026¹. Budget Energy's 9.5% variable electricity increase follows on 4 August 2026¹. SSE Airtricity's 19.2% gas increase and Share Energy's 12.6% electricity increase both take effect on 1 October 2026¹. No further supplier announcements beyond these have been reported.

Sources2 cited

1. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 | Consumer Council, consumercouncil.org.uk
2. Electricity, oil and gas | Consumer Council, consumercouncil.org.uk