Dual Fuel plans are a way for households and businesses in Ireland to get both their electricity and gas from a single company, rather than going to different suppliers.

The advantage of Dual Fuel plans is that they typically allow customers to save money compared with getting both separately. 

What is a Dual Fuel plan?

A dual fuel plan simply means that you get your electricity and gas from the same supplier, with a specific offer for both to come bundled together.

If a household has their electricity supply provided by one company, and their gas by another, then they are not on a dual fuel plan.

Dual Fuel plans are easy to distinguish as they always clearly label the bundled product rather than separate gas and electricity.

Who provides electricity and gas?

Currently, there are six energy providers in Ireland which offer customers both electricity and gas.

• Electric Ireland
• Flogas
• Bord Gáis
• Energia
• SSE Airtricity
• Prepay Power
• Yuno Energy

Yuno Energy is different from the other six providers in the list above. They do not provide gas as an individual product but only in dual fuel plans combined with electricity.

Benefits of Dual Fuel Energy Plans

The main benefit of getting a dual fuel electricity and gas plan is the greater discounts which are typically offered for gas compared to purchasing it separately.

People purchasing dual fuels may potentially receive discounts anywhere from 10% to 20% higher than if they were purchasing gas as a product on its own.

A dual fuel plan may also come with other benefits such as a cash welcome bonus which can further reduce the customer’s first year bill.

Does gas come with time-of-use tariffs?

While electricity in a dual fuel plan may come with different rates for different time of the day e.g Day/Peak/Night/EV, this is not the case for gas. Gas tariffs are set at a single 24hr rate, regardless of what electricity products it is paired with.

What charges come with a Dual Fuel plan?

With a dual fuel plan, customers will have to pay for the electricity and gas they use, and the charges associated with providing them.

• Electricity Units
• Gas Units
• Standing Charges
• PSO Levy
• Carbon Tax

Electricity and Gas units will be charged based on customers’ consumption and the rates relevant to their plan, with any discount applied.

Separate standing charges, which cover the cost of energy infrastructure and suppling customers, will be applied for electricity and gas meters. This is a daily rate multiplied by the amount of days in the billing period.

The PSO Levy is a charge applied to electricity bills to support renewable energy. Inclusive of VAT it is €3.52 per month or €42.25 per year.

The Carbon Tax is applied to gas consumption per kWh of energy used. Currently, the carbon tax for natural gas is 0.01104 cent/kWh including VAT.

Do Dual Fuel plans come with a single bill?

This depends on the provider. Some companies may send a single statement for a dual fuel plan with electricity and gas invoiced separately. Other companies may send entirely separate bills for electricity and gas.

Customers may also not receive a gas bill in the same period as their electricity bill. This would likely be because Gas Networks Ireland has not carried out a meter reading in the billing period.