Scores attend Laois meeting on rising costs

Scores of people attended a public meeting on rising energy costs in Portarlington Community Centre last Tuesday evening. 

Organiser Alan Mitchell of Al’s Fish Shop in Portarlington, who revealed that the electricity bills for his building had risen from €2,000 every two months to €8,000 for the same period, urged people to take action. “Energy bills are just going through the roof,” he told the crowd which consisted of both business owners and householders.

“I was driving down to Tipperary there last week through all these little villages and they all have one shop, one pub and they have to have refrigeration,“ he explained. By his estimates, he said,  “their bills are going to go from €600 to €3,000, it’s unsustainable.”

“They are essential for a local community. They are lifelines and they are going to be closed and that is the whole thing. This is the whole thing that the government doesn’t realise, they are asleep at the wheel,” he remarked. 

If things don’t change, he said: “At the end of the month or the end of next month even, you are going to see closures left right and centre because people will just go, ‘we cannot do this’.”  

“They are going to close every small community in the country,” he said. Mr Mitchell believes the issue will be felt most severely in rural areas where businesses have to survive with a smaller footfall. He said the government must act and it shouldn’t be a handout. He  thinks a handout will only fuel inflation and worsen the situation. 

“We need a fair price,” he insisted. “The last thing I want is a handout, no one wants credit,” said Mr Mitchell. 

Elaine Mullally, who runs Clown Around Play Centre said she has been in business for 14 years and like Mr Mitchell, her electrical bills have also quadrupled, from around €250 to almost €1,000.

She told the meeting that one option open to businesses was to cancel their direct debits and open a dispute with their energy providers. She claimed the providers can’t cut you off until the dispute is resolved.

While not suggesting people do this, she said they could ask for an IBAN and then pay what they believe is a fair price for their energy while the dispute remains open. 

Mr Mitchell said such a move would certainly make energy suppliers take notice. However, one attendee warned those gathered that if a person ends a direct debit and doesn’t enter a dispute and is then cut off by their supplier, they could face a hefty reconnection fee. 

Independent TD Cathal Berry told those gathered that “energy was the only topic of discussion in Leinster House” at present. In the budget he expects “there is going to be a massive intervention,” he told the meeting. “Most likely it will be €600 in about two or three instalments,” he explained. 

Deputy Berry said that intervention would be made during the budget while at European Level, he expects Gas to be decoupled from energy prices in the coming weeks. “Secondly a price cap, a set rate across Europe will be struck where individuals will have to pay a set rate per Kilowatt hour and then the European Union…. will pick up the difference. That seems to be the massive intervention coming down the tracks and it is going to happen.”

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Many at the meeting expressed dismay over the closure of former peat burning power stations in Shannonbridge and Lanesboro, particularly now at a  time of such dire energy need. 

The issue was raised with Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the National Ploughing Championships last Wednesday. 

The Taoiseach expressed his view that it would be neither feasible nor practical from a regulatory point of view to restart the peat fired plants during the energy crisis. 

Energy broker Seamus Heavey was invited to the public meeting in Portarlington. He told those present that “the system is broken. The tie up with the gas has inflated energy prices.” Mr Heavey said energy companies had been subsidising domestic bills through business contracts. “From October 1 all the companies are increasing their rates,” he said.

Mr Heavey was extremely critical of the manner in which the Green Party had sought to introduce policy. 

 “The Green Party has lost all credibility,” he said.

Mr Heavey was highly critical of the Green Party handling of micro solar generation, where householders and property owners were promised payment for selling excess electricity to the grid. He said many of these small producers are still not being paid. 

“They are feeding electricity into the grid and getting nothing for it and that's an absolute disgrace,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Mr Mitchell told the meeting that if the energy costs are not addressed very soon he will be out of business by October 22. 

Mr Mitchell said he plans to organise another meeting in the coming weeks.