“We’re a small coffee shop in Westmeath.”
Sadly, not for long if this keeps up.
I got this electricity bill today, how in the name of God is this possible, we’re a small coffee shop in westmeath
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That is unbelievable 
Where is the header that shows who the customer is that received this bill? How do I know it belongs to “this little coffee shop”? It could be the bill for the whole building housing several businesses.
The charged are for two months, June and July, typically hotter months. The bill was last paid in full in June.
My electric bill shows the my name, address where meter is located, meter readings, last and current, the amount of KWHs used and the itemized cost including taxes and surcharges. Where is that information?
It’s happening in Ireland and Poppyfields Cafe retweeted this. Can’t find a header anywhere!
This is one of many thousands that have been posted recently, where it seems the unlawful increase in energy bills will undoubtedly eliminate small private businesses…
Have a hunch that Europe just might be cut off completely come this winter. Not sure about UK, but not looking pretty. If We U.S. Citizens don’t do something, they’ll try the same BS with us in some form or fashion.
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This is a real story, I don’t live that far from the cafe (it is in a town we shop in every couple of months). This happened because the “privatized” energy “providers” are all quitting the county and people (like this lady) who are “in the contract” for power for a year at a certain price are having their contracts voided and then just “automatically assigned” to one of the other electrical companies at “full rates.”
This is happening so quickly (companies cutting and running) that often the customer doesn’t really even realize this has happened until they get the email they’ve been switched over at the higher rate. Until this week, I don’t think anyone just realized how insanely high that can be her last bill for the same time period in the summer was 2,000 Euros.
A lot of businesses in the UK and some in Ireland have quit overnight having gotten these bills they either can’t pay or can’t pay more than once. The companies making money are not the “resellers” in the “privatized” energy market they are the big companies like Royal Dutch Shell or British Petroleum that sell the wholesale energy to the smaller “providers.”
I suspect that unless something changes, Ireland will have a total or nearly totally nationalized public grid system again by January - either because the government decides to do so or simply because all the “for profit” providers have left the country since they can’t make any money, leaving just the bones of the old State company that is still largely owned by the Irish government as the only provider left standing.
But trust me, this story is very real, and so is the one about the business owner whose yearly bills (in the UK) were something like 10,000 pounds going up to 64,000 (so they will probably close this month). No small business can absorb costs like that - speculation was things like 40 euros for a cup of coffee as examples of how much they would have to charge to make those payments. People won’t buy coffee at those rates, they just simply will not.
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I saw the coffee shop item earlier today on the Drudge Report but it has already been removed to make room for other articles.
The same thing happened in Texas in 2019 during a cold snap when demand outpaced available kilowatts. Those signed up with “budget” companies who had to purchase jacked up pricey electricity to provide services to their customers simply passed the cost on to them resulting in huge bills and companies going bankrupt because customers refused to pay.
This lady was switched over after her low cost provider in Spain quit. Again the screen shot shows no details in the article, only a narrative.
Geez, I’m driving through Athlone in the morning on the way to a job in Dublin, and I was going to call in for a coffee somewhere along the way. I might just pack some extra in the car. Maybe take a packed lunch too.
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I was hoping to find the cafe next time we go shopping or to a Middle Ages (SCA) club meeting there. I’m not sure I’ve seen it but then we usually just go to the larger shops. We did a demo at Athlone Castle two weeks ago, which was fun but we didn’t have time to go into town.
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If you have a spare 10grand, we could catch up for coffee and cakes somewhere before the prices really go crazy 
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I was hoping for a hoax… Unbelievable.
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Today’s UK Daily Mail if full of similar stories from the UK and quite a number of the shops and pubs that basically closed overnight this week when either they got the bills and/or the projected “contracts” they would have to sign for the next year. A lot of those were similar to this one, say a pub paying 10,000 pounds a year would be quoted 64,000 a year as the “low” bid contract. Big corporations can hang on for a month or three to see what happens, a lot of small businesses just send out the “thanking our customers over the last 30,50,200 years but today we are closing our doors” letters, along with all staff being let go. It really is a nightmare.
Dogsbreath, not sure I’ve got that much cash this month, but maybe sometime meet up in Athlone anyway?
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OMG what a travesty. No need for expendable income now.
Competition is a sin.
-Rockefeller
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