It comes days after new energy supply player Yuno launched cut-price deals for households.
Independent.ie understands that the large players in the market are weeks away from announcing modest cuts in electricity and gas prices for households, just as we head into the more energy-hungry winter months.
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Ahead of that, Pinergy has put it up to its competitors by reducing its standard unit electricity to below those offered by ESB-owned Electric Ireland, the largest residential electricity supplier in the market.
Pinergy is the only energy supplier to cut prices in this market in the last eight months.
The latest cut of 9.5pc in the unit rate will save a typical family around €220 over a year, including Vat. The latest reduction takes effect from October 1.
Last March, Pinergy broke ranks to deliver a price reduction of 7.1pc.
That move by the firm, which supplies electricity to householders on pay-as-you-go meters and those who pay a bill every two months, meant a reduction of €183 over a year for a typical customer.
Pinergy chief executive Enda Gunnell said: “After our price reduction in March, we said that we would continue to review pricing.”
He said the firm was able to announce a second decrease as wholesale electricity pricing has eased in recent months.
“However, the energy crisis has not gone away and wholesale pricing remains inflated and volatile,” he said.
Mr Gunnell urged policymakers to invest in energy market reforms to bring down costs.
Independent.ie revealed last week that electricity prices in this country are the highest in Europe, costing households €900 a year more compared with the EU average.
Bills here are 80pc higher than the European Union average, according to the Household Energy Price Index.
The index is commissioned by the Austrian energy regulator and the Hungarian energy regulator.
It comes as households grapple with a cost-of-living crisis that could be further exacerbated as autumn and winter approach and their electricity and gas use soars after a summer lull.
In the past two years prices have more than doubled with the average home now being forced to pay around €2,000 a year for electricity.
But there are hopes that consumers could see their energy bills fall in coming months as the market gets a shake-up from a new entrant.
Yuno Energy is promising it could save customers more than €500 a year on their electricity bills by closely monitoring their energy usage at home.
And in the coming weeks it is expected that the big players in this market – Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis, Energia, and SSE Airtricity – will announce price cuts.
However, the price reductions are likely to be small. Most commentators expect reductions of between 10pc and 20pc, which will still mean energy costs remain high for the winter.
Daragh Cassidy of price comparison site Bonkers said the new price drop from Pinergy will be welcome news to customers.
He said it means Pinergy’s standard unit rate is now cheaper than most other suppliers, including Electric Ireland.
“I expect other suppliers to announce similar price decreases over the comings weeks as their hedging strategies further unwind and they buy electricity at today’s slightly lower prices,” he said.
“However, wholesale electricity prices in Ireland are still around three times normal levels. So there’s a limit to how far prices for consumers can drop for the time being.”
Mr Cassidy said there won’t be an energy “price war” or a return to even remotely normal energy prices for this winter.
He said that in 2020, before Covid and then the war in Ukraine wreaked havoc with energy prices, households were being charged around 20c to 22c per kilowatt hour (kWh) on average (including Vat) for their electricity.
He said that after this price drop, Pinergy’s second of the year, its standard unit rate is over 41c. This compares with an EU average of around 26c.
“It’s going to be another very expensive winter to heat and light our homes,” said Mr Cassidy. “However, this price drop, as well as Yuno Energy’s recent entry into the market, which is offering a rate of just over 38c, means households can save some money by switching.”
