To ask the Minister for the Economy to outline (i) what discussion she is having with energy suppliers; and (ii) what action her Department is taking to ensure NI households are protected from the 14% gas unit price increase.

The Utility Regulator is responsible for regulating gas tariffs charged by the dominant suppliers in the Greater Belfast and Ten Towns license areas – SSE Airtricity and firmus energy respectively. The Utility Regulator (UR) scrutinises the energy supplier submissions in relation to price changes, and ensures that customers pay no more than the efficient costs of purchasing and supplying natural gas plus an agreed profit margin set by the UR. The Department has an oversight role in this process.

Although the firmus energy gas tariff in Greater Belfast is unregulated, a competitive market and the price assurance provided by the regulated tariffs gives protection to domestic gas consumers.