Cork hotelier calls for energy support scheme to be backdated as electricity bill rises by almost €16k

A Cork hotel manager has called for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme to be backdated for the months of July and August to ‘protect’ jobs as businesses are really struggling.

The general manager of the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery, Neil Grant said the electricity bill for their hotel in August was €24,669. This was in comparison to an electricity bill of €8,833 in August 2021.

As part of Budget 2023, the Government has introduced The Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) which is a €1.25 billion programme of financial aid for businesses being hit with soaring energy costs.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Grant welcomed the support but said the initiative should be backdated to include the months of July and August. 

“I’m glad they did something, but they need to go a bit further for the winter to protect businesses. They should be trying to backdate it as businesses are really suffering. It will help keep businesses afloat and protect jobs,” he said.

“It is going to be a problem until February no doubt, Mr Grant said. “This became a problem in July when it started to go out of control, and I think backdating it until September is two months too late. They should be backdating it until July. I think by September the horse has bolted a little bit.” 

The general manager of the Celtic Ross said they have reduced their consumption by 6%, but there has been a 300% increase in bills. 

“The August ESB bill was bigger than what we thought it would be. In the accounts, we would have accrued about €18,000 because it was €18,200 in July so we thought it would be the same again, but it was another hike. 

"The unit price had gone up from 32.47c per kilowatt hour (kWh) in July to 46.94c per kilowatt hour in August. In both July and August year on year, we have reduced our consumption by about 3,000 units plus. We have had a 6% reduction in consumption, but there is a 300% increase in bills," he added.

Mr Grant said the hotel has made several changes to try and combat the rising energy costs. “We have changed everything to LED. On a daily basis, we have a member of staff who is patrolling and checking on appliances and lighting. In recent years, we had to change a lot of kitchen equipment and the new equipment has a better energy rating so that has helped.

“We are also in the process of putting in a new boiler system that will produce electricity for us. We hope this will be a big help,” he added.