‘I am terrified about the winter coming’: One in seven now behind on electricity bills

Michael Coveney (52), who lives alone in Skerries, north Co Dublin, feels like he is “ under water and can’t breathe ”. He has been struggling with electricity bill arrears since November and has stopped paying other bills in an effort to clear them. On Friday, he received a letter from the Department of Social Protection in response to his application for an exceptional needs payment to help clear the arrears. He was refused “because these household bills are of a predictable nature which you should budget for on a weekly basis from your payment”, says the letter. “I feel completely alone, with no help. And I am terrified about the winter coming,” he says. New figures from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities this week show Coveney is not alone. Some 318,735 homes – one in seven across the State – were behind with their electricity bills at the end of March. A new report from think tank the Economic and Social Research Institute finds that Government measures intended to help households with surging energy costs benefit those on higher incomes almost twice as much as those on lower incomes. Coveney has long Covid and had to give up his work as a shuttering carpenter. “I loved my work. If I could work, I would be [working] ... I get the disability allowance, which is €254 a week, and €35 the first week of every month [household benefits package],” he says. “I get the fuel allowance, in September and January as a lump sum [€538] and thank God for it. I had an electricity bill of almost €500 in arrears for December and January and it went straight to that.” His arrears mounted again, however, even as he cut spending in other areas. “The winter was brutal and I am about €200 in arrears now. I asked the TV and broadband [provider] to defer payments for six months and now I owe them €450. So really I am robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he says. “I have to have the broadband and the TV. I hardly ever get out because of my disability. I need them to stay connected to the outside world.” Wheelchair-user Susan Power stopped working when her multiple sclerosis made it impossible. Her husband John gave up work to care for her. On top of utilities, he spends “about €100 a week” on groceries. He pays for his bins and his phone out of just over €100 a week, once he pays his rent to Fingal County Council. “They put the rent up from €36 a week to €48. I know to some people they’d say €48 is nothing, but it leaves me with very little.” Asked about such items as clothes, eating out, and holidays, he laughs. “It’s Penneys or second-hand for clothes and a ‘No’ to restaurants or holidays. The last time I was away was 2012,” he says. He worries about money “all the time”. And with energy prices due to increase by 11 per cent from July 1st, he feels “there is no change for me in sight”.