Pub's electricity bill almost trebles in a few months

A Mullingar publican who has seen his electricity bill almost treble in recent months says that it will be a “long winter” for many local businesses unless the government does something to tackle spiralling energy costs.

Liam Gilleran, proprietor of Gilleran’s gastropub on Harbour Street, has seen his electricity bill go from around €2,500 every 60 days to almost €7,000 in the space of a few months, and he faces the certainty of a further 26 per cent increase in his next bill at the start of November.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Mr Gilleran, who is president of the Westmeath branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, says local businesses need government help.

“The utilities themselves are killing businesses. It’s scary. It’s our biggest worry in the VFI and for people here in town. It affects every single business, whether it’s a chipper or a clothes shop. It’s frightening.

“Electric Ireland are putting their price up by 26.5% which, for me, is €1775 on top of my current bill, which means the next one we get is going to be at least eight and a half thousand.

“I’d never thought I’d see the day that utility companies would be putting people out of business. The last thing the government needs is people going out of business because they need the income tax and the VAT that we collect for their coffers.”

As the state owns over 95 per cent of the ESB, Mr Gilleran believes the government could do a lot more to tackle energy costs.

“What I’d love to see is the government to grow a pair of balls, for want of a better phrase, and take on the ESB. If you are in government, govern. Change the law overnight and get on with it. This is an emergency. In extraordinary times, you need extraordinary measures.

“The ESB should take a hit on this. This country is on its knees. It’s about time the government spoke to the ESB about this. They are the biggest shareholder and it’s about time they did something for citizens, not just for small businesses, but across the board.”

A recent report commissioned by the VFI found that more than 40 per cent of people said that they plan to make fewer visits to their local pubs this winter due to the cost of living crisis.

Mr Gilleran says that despite the huge increase in his operating costs over the last six month, mainly due to his energy bills, he won’t be raising his prices.

“We upped our prices this year because we wanted to increase wages, and rightly so too. I think we will leave it at that. A recent survey from the VFI found that fewer people are going to go to the pub this winter, so why put it up? It’s the law of diminishing returns.

“We’d prefer to have volume and leave it at a reasonable price than putting it up. We are taking the hit and we have to take the hit, but through no fault of our own.

“I love this business. I grew up in this business and we will survive this. A lot of our members probably won’t survive this.”