1800 euro bill for a working week

Electric bikes are available to bar customers, to support energy costs. This is a ridiculous provocation written on Facebook by the owner of the Gocce di Miele patisserie in Rovigo, who, a few weeks after reopening after the holidays, A very high electricity bill was handed over even though the activity, in the offending month, actually only works for seven days.

I billed Enel 1,800 euros for seven days in August – explains Marco Fanin – because from the eighth to the thirty-first we were closed for the summer holidays. “The costs are therefore attributable to one week of full-time work, because the owner assures that he also turned off all systems and refrigerators before closing on holidays.” This amount is due to one week of work, I can’t imagine what I would have got by keeping the business open for all four weeks – he asserts – In general, I can estimate it at around 8 thousand euros, I think, which is an impossible amount to pay Even working beyond the norm.”

Bills have also increased in previous months, a far cry from the amounts received last year. He added: “For the month of July we paid 5 thousand euros – he adds – while in the same period in 2021 it was 2,300 euros. A big difference.” Hence the icy provocation of providing the bar with “sports bikes”, connected to the electrical system, so that, while waiting for the coffee, the customer produces energy and can keep fit.

“Obviously it was written for laughs, because I don’t like feeling sorry for myself – identifies Fannin – But there is little to laugh about at a situation like the one we all go through. Fortunately, the company is healthy and resilient, but at this rate one wonders where we will get the money to pay these amounts.”

Another question that spontaneously arises is how much a similar company should sell even just coffee to offset these costs. “There is no point in raising prices, the biggest problem with this situation is that I definitely can’t think of compensating the customer – He continues – Because I do that in the end I will only bring in fewer people. It is a dog that bites its own tail.” It is also pointless to think of saving yourself by paying these sums in installments because you only risk generating ongoing debt.

“Paying in installments is not the solution – he says – these bills should be paid sooner or later. By making installments in installments, you will only prolong the inconvenience. The only concrete answer is in the hands of the government, which must surely find solutions, and it must do so quickly.” The danger at the end of the year, with a crisis affecting every sector and every family unit indiscriminately, is that many companies, now trying to survive, are forced to close, while others have to block investments and hiring, and generate more severe, With unemployment and general poverty.

Companies should be able to plan their work but in this situation it is no longer possible to do so – Vanin concludes – We’re flattened by these Facebook posts but the situation is really worrying. I think the seriousness of what is happening is not yet understood. And without quick intervention from those who can actually place limits on these increases, I fear that at the end of the year there will be very few companies.”