POWER NI is to slash electricity prices by 9.2% from April 1.

The cut could mean the average household would save £50 a year, and £200 a year for small businesses.

The company is the biggest electricity supplier, providing for more than half a million homes and 37,000 businesses in Northern Ireland.

Kerstie Forsyth from Power NI said: “We were able to buy cheaper wholesale electricity prices just before Christmas, and that was as a result of lower wholesale gas prices.”

Ms Forsyth said that because the company buys in advance, 1 April is the earliest moment that they can pass the savings on to customers.

The change in price had to be cleared by the Utility Regulator because the company has such a big chunk of the electricity market.

The regulator’s chief executive Jenny Pyper said “customers of Power NI can be confident that, due to our regulation of Power NI’s prices, their bills reflect the actual costs of supplying electricity”.

After significant fluctuations in recent years, Power NI’s electricity price is now below the rate they charged in 2010.

The smaller electricity providers are not regulated, but often follow the same rough trajectory as Power NI in order to compete.

Budget Energy announced a 5 per cent price cut earlier this week.

SSE Airtricity and Electric Ireland have yet to reduce their prices.