Athlone restaurateur 'speechless' after rise in electricity bill
An Athlone restaurateur has spoken of her shock and disbelief when she received an electricity bill of over €9,000 this week.
Geraldine Dolan, general manager of the popular Poppy Fields café on Payne's Lane in the town, received the bill from Electric Ireland after she was forced to switch electricity providers on June 8 last when the Spanish energy provider, Iberdrola, left the Irish market.
"This bill, which is for 73 days of electricity supply, is nearly €3,000 more than my last bill with Iberdrola, so to tell you the truth I am just shell-shocked and speechless, I just can't believe it."
Geraldine explained that all Iberdrola’s customers were automatically switched to Electric Ireland after June 8 to ensure there would be "no break in electricity supply", but never in her wildest dreams did she envisage receiving a bill of €9,024.70, which includes VAT of €812.22.
She said she got "a huge reaction" to a Tweet she posted last night of a photo of the electricity bill, in which she asked, "How in the name of God is this possible, we're a small coffee shop in Westmeath."
The bill has to be paid by Tuesday of next week, September 6, and Geraldine told the Westmeath Independent she has "no choice" but to pay the bill if she wants to remain in business.
However, she says the exorbitant energy rates being charged to Irish customers leaves "a serious question mark" over the future of many companies, particularly restaurants and other businesses operating in the hospitality sector.
"We are open six days a week, from 8.30am to 4.30pm, and we have a staff of 11, and every single day we see our overheads increasing, so what is this winter going to be like?" she says.
"I don't think people even have a clue what they are facing into, and I honestly don't know how a lot of businesses are going to survive."
A cost-benefit analysis carried out on the energy prices being paid by the Poppy Fields Café over the last year has revealed that 12 months ago they were paying €34 per day ex-VAT, while this year the cost has risen to €123 per day ex-VAT.
"That is simply not sustainable, no matter what way you do the maths," points out Geraldine, "so we need to have some sort of level playing field or there is no future for a lot of business owners who depend heavily on energy."
She points out that, in countries like France and Spain, governments have "stepped in" to put some sort of cap on energy prices, and she says the Irish government will have to do something similar.
"If they just allow the market to operate in a completely uncontrolled environment, where is this going to stop?" she asks.
Poppy Fields Café has been operating for 16 years, and is popular with tourists and locals alike.
"We are coming off the back of a buoyant summer season, but we are now facing into a much quieter time of year, as we head into autumn, winter," says Geraldine, "and our prices are rising in every area of the business every day, but particularly in the area of our energy usage, and unless something is done to cap prices, we are facing a very worrying and uncertain future."