Electric Ireland is to reduce the standard gas unit price it charges customers by 2.5% from the beginning of 2016.

Both residential and SME business customers are set to benefit from the reduction, while the company estimates the average saving per customer will exceed €20 per year.

Last month Electric Ireland also announced a reduction in its electricity prices.

This latest gas price reduction will be the utility provider's second in the space of a year.

Meanwhile, SSE Airtricity will reduce its household electricity prices by 2% from 11 January 2016.

The reduction will apply to around 340,000 customers and will result in savings of around €23 annually on home electricity costs.

The price cut follows an earlier 2% cut back in April.