The Head of Social Justice at the Society of St Vincent de Paul has welcomed news of cuts in energy prices but said she wants other suppliers to follow suit.
SSE Airtricity is to reduce its domestic electricity rates by another 12.8% and its domestic gas rates by 11.5%.
The cut will lower the annual bill of a typical electricity customer by €219.29 and of a typical gas customer by €157.07. Standing charges are to remain unchanged, however.
Tricia Keilthy from the Society of St Vincent de Paul said: "Our concern and the reality is prices are still almost double what they were in 2021 so the energy crisis is far from over in terms of households we are assisting.
"Energy is continuing to be one of the main reasons people are contacting SVP. At the moment this is the busiest time of the year for our volunteers as parents are preparing for Christmas and people are really struggling to heat their homes."
She welcomed the payment of the fuel allowance last week, which she said really helped, but not everyone gets it.
"We're really concerned about January when the connection moratorium is lifted and people may have significant arrears built up," Ms Keilthy said.
The changes to SSE Airtricity rates will take effect from 1 February.
The move follows a previous price reduction by the supplier in September of up to 12%.
"We're really happy to announce a further price decrease for our customers today, in what we hope is welcome news," said Klair Neenan, Managing Director of SSE Airtricity.
"As a company we’ve stayed true to our word and we continue to pass on savings to customers at the earliest possible opportunity.
"We’ve also worked hard over the last couple of years to support our customers as much as possible, with unrivalled financial supports and protections."
The company added that it recognises that this will continue to be a difficult time for many people and said it encourages any customer experiencing difficulties with bills to contact its customer care team.
SSE Airtricity provides energy to more than 300,000 domestic customers in the Republic of Ireland.
Last year, it increased its prices twice, while in 2021 they rose three times.
In April of this year, it gave a €35 credit to customers after it decided to forego €8.6m in profits.
Energy providers have slowly begun to reduce their charges in recent months as the cost of wholesale power falls.
Last month five price decreases took effect, including from Electric Ireland, Flogas, Bord Gáis Energy, PrepayPower and SSE Airtricity.
Wholesale electricity prices increased by 12.5% in October, but were 7.8% lower in the year to the end of the month.
Following the announcement by Airtricity, a spokesperson for Electric Ireland said it has "offered the best value to its customers through the energy crisis of recent years".
The statement said that it "continues to keep its prices under constant review."
In a separate statement, Energia said that they "monitor wholesale electricity and gas prices on an ongoing basis to offer customers the best value and service, and will proactively communicate any future price changes to our customers".
With additional reporting by Joe Mag Raollaigh
