An Irish shop owner has told how she broke down in tears after she was slammed with a huge €21k electricity bill - for just one month of energy.
Annie Timothy, the owner of Timothy’s Londis in Abbeytown, Roscommon, said she simply cried when she opened the bill and saw the shocking figure.
Her monthly electricity bills for the supermarket have more than tripled since January - where it previously cost her €6,600 a month. The latest bill from Electric Ireland came in at €20,882.59 for one month and is due this Saturday, September 17, by direct debit.
Speaking to RTE, Annie said: “My latest bill came into me last Thursday and I actually cried when I saw it.
"I just sat and I cried.
“We knew power was going up. We did all the right things, but there is no way a business like mine can sustain that kind of thing going forward.”
While most people expect their energy costs to go down over the summer, Annie’s monthly energy bills have been rapidly increasing.
They rose from €6,000 at the beginning of the year, to €9,000, to €15,000 and have now reached the shocking sum of nearly €21,000.
The family-run business in Roscommon will struggle to pay this latest electricity bill but are “terrified” about how they are going to pay upcoming bills during the winter months.
“At some point I’m going to have to pay it,” she said. “It’s the one after that and the one after that again, that’s the issue.”
She continued: “It's absolutely terrifying at this point in time. As a person I am positive. I always look on the bright side of things.
“This time I am very, very concerned. There is absolutely no way I can generate the extra turnover to make that money back.”
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