If you smell gas
Call 0800 002 001
The free Northern Ireland Gas Emergency Service, 24 hours a day, every day. Leave the building, open doors and windows, do not switch anything electrical on or off, and call from outside. The line covers the firmus Ten Towns network and every other NI gas network.
firmus energy at a glance
Network
Ten Towns
Households on the network
around 76,000
Gas emergency line
0800 002 001 (24h)
Distribution owner
Equitix funds
Gas suppliers (Ten Towns)
firmus energy only
Ten Towns supply tariff change
+15.65% from 1 July 2026
Sources: firmus energy and the Utility Regulator. Tariff changes are volatile, always confirm the current rate.
The thing that confuses everyone: firmus does two jobs
Most companies in the energy chain do one job. firmus energy does two, and that is the single biggest source of confusion about it. It owns a gas network, and it also sells gas. Here is how to keep them apart.
As a network owner
- +Owns and maintains the Ten Towns gas pipes and mains;
- +Connects new homes and businesses in the Ten Towns area;
- +Is paid a regulated network charge, the same for every customer on the network.
As a gas supplier
- +Sells gas and sends bills to households;
- +Is the only gas supplier on the Ten Towns network;
- +Also competes as one of two suppliers on the Phoenix Greater Belfast network.
What firmus does not do: produce the gas itself, run the electricity grid, or set the tax and levies on your bill. For a gas leak you still call the shared emergency line, not firmus.
The Ten Towns network
The Ten Towns network stretches from the north west across to Antrim and south to Newry. If you live in one of these towns or nearby, your gas pipes belong to firmus energy.
Why most firmus customers cannot switch
In Great Britain, gas customers take switching for granted. In the Ten Towns area of Northern Ireland, they cannot, because firmus energy is currently the only company selling gas on that network. There is no rival to move to.
The insider point most guides miss
A small, young network cannot support many competing suppliers, because the fixed cost of serving it is too high to split. So in the Ten Towns the market is effectively a single supplier, and the protection against overcharging is not competition but the Utility Regulator, which oversees firmus tariffs. The practical takeaway: in the Ten Towns the lever you have is not "switch supplier" but "use less gas and check you are on the right firmus tariff and any available discounts". Treating Northern Ireland gas like the Great Britain switching market simply does not work here.
Who to call for what
Because firmus is both network and supplier in the Ten Towns, you contact it for most things, except a gas leak, which always goes to the shared emergency line.
| If your issue is... | Who to call |
|---|---|
| You smell gas or suspect a leak | NI Gas Emergency Service, 0800 002 001 |
| New gas connection (Ten Towns) | firmus energy (as network owner) |
| Bill, tariff or payment | firmus energy (as your supplier) |
| Faulty meter or keypad top-up | firmus energy (as your supplier) |
Live outside the Ten Towns? Your network may be Phoenix Energy (Greater Belfast) or SGN Natural Gas (the west).
firmus energy: the Selectra expert answers your questions
Leave the building, open doors and windows, do not touch any electrical switches, and call the Northern Ireland Gas Emergency Service on 0800 002 001 from outside. It is free, 24 hours a day, every day, and covers every NI gas network. Report a leak through the emergency line, not your supplier.
Both, which is what makes it unusual. firmus energy owns and operates the "Ten Towns" gas network (the pipes), and it also acts as a gas supplier that sells gas and sends bills. On its own Ten Towns network it is currently the only supplier. On the separate Greater Belfast network, owned by Phoenix Energy, firmus competes as one of two gas suppliers.
Currently no. On the Ten Towns network, firmus energy is the only company supplying gas to homes, so there is no alternative to switch to. This is different from Greater Belfast, where households can choose between firmus energy and SSE Airtricity. Switching availability in Northern Ireland depends entirely on your network area.
The firmus energy distribution business, which owns the Ten Towns gas network, is owned by infrastructure funds managed by Equitix Investment Management. It operates under licence from the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (the Utility Regulator), which controls the charges it can make for use of the network.
The Ten Towns network covers Antrim, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Coleraine, Craigavon, Limavady, Derry/Londonderry and Newry, plus surrounding areas. The network stretches from the north west across to Antrim and down to Newry in the south. Around 76,000 households are connected.