Airtricity Energy Review
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Founded in 1997, Airtricity are one of the biggest suppliers of energy to Ireland.
The supplier generates electricity from a number of wind farms dotted across Ireland and the UK and presents itself as a pioneer for renewable energy generation. Ireland’s largest wind farm and an energy efficient gas power plant are just two of its projects. The energy market in Ireland is heavily regulated and households benefit from relatively stable energy prices. Last year over 300,000 Irish people switched electricity suppliers, and more than 106,000 switched gas. So are Airtricity’s deals and customer service good enough to tempt you to join them and switch provider? Let’s take a look. 
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Who are Airtricity?
First, a quick word on who Airtricity really are. They may sound like a small, independent provider, but the reality is that anyone switching to Airtricity will actually be supplied by Scottish giant SSE. SSE, which has over 9.5 million UK customers, bought Airtricity in 2008 for a cool €1.1b. It promptly rebranded Airtricity’s sustainable branch as “SSE’s renewables”. Airtricity is Ireland’s second biggest supplier, providing electricity and gas to over 800,000 homes and businesses. Airtricty Tariffs Airtricity currently has a wide range of single and duel fuel tariffs to choose from. Republic of Ireland customers might like the popualr one year duel fuel fixed term plan. It promises you can save 15% on electricity and 5% on gas on Airtricity’s unit rates. To leave the contract early, however, you will have to pay €50 per utility, which we think is pretty steep. To find out if you can save money switching to an Airtricity tariff, enter your details into A Spokesman Said’s free comparison tool. Compare Airtricity deals on A Spokesman Said Airtricity green credentials Airtricity has invested heavily in wind farms and is an attractive prospect for eco-conscious switchers. With 25 wind farms, Airtricity is the largest provider of wind power in the whole of Ireland. And it puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to investment in clean energy. Airtricity has invested €2 billion in greener energy infrastructure in Ireland. There's little doubt Airtrcity is one of the greenest suppliers in Ireland. A customer on a conventional tariff from rival supplier Power NI, for example, will only have 5.8 % of his electricity supplied from renewables. Airtricity also invests in ethical social projects. €4.5 million has been ploughed into community projects – such as eco schools – located near Airtricity wind farms. 
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Airtricity online offering
Being a subsidiary of a massive energy company like SSE, Airtricity customers benefit from a solid website with all the bells and whistles. The online portal lets you view bills, submit meter readings, check your payment history and stay on top of your energy usage. Information is laid out very clearly and you should have no problems finding out how to do any of the above. Depending on whether you are in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, and whether you want gas or electricity, you need to toggle to different parts of the site. Airtricity customer service The fact that Airtricity is part of the SSE family gives cause to be optimistic about its customer service. SSE consistently performs near the top for customer service in rankings of the Big Six suppliers. Between July and September 2015, Ofgem revealed 78% of SSE customers were happy with the ease of contacting the supplier (higher than any other provider) and 42% would recommend SSE (equal best with British Gas). It’s difficult, however, to find information that lets us drill down into Airtricity’s service. Airtricity does, after all, have its own email and phone lines. A study by Which? is more ambivalent about the quality of Airtricity’s customer service. It gave the company a run-of-the-mill rating of 3/5 for bills (accuracy and clarity), complaints handling and customer service. So the jury’s still out, then. If you need to make a complaint about Airtricity, use A Spokesman Said’s free tool. Recent news On June 1st Airtrcity announced it would be slashing prices by 5%, with 400,000 household customers set to benefit. It was SSE’s third price cut in a row. Duel fuel customers are expected to save up to €101 a year from August 1st. A Spokesman Said’s verdict: Pros: * Strong focus on renewable energy * Competitively priced energy and recent history of price cuts * Well designed and easy to use website * Wide range of tariffs Cons: * Iffy customer service reputation |
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