photo as illustration
9,000 euro plus energy bill for Joris and friends
Everybody’s
a bit worried about their forthcoming energy bills, but Joris Verluyten and his
friends were more than surprised when they got their annual bill. Seven of them live in the same house they rent,
but they hadn’t expected a bill of over 9,000 euros.
Joris and
his gang moved into the house a year ago and stayed with the variable tariff
plan with Engie that was already running.
Nobody was too bothered. There was a monthly 94 euro down payment and
that was quite affordable. The figure
was calculated on the basis of historic consumption. Nothing extra needed to be paid, but that has
now changed.
Joris and
his friends have received their annual bill for 9,338.85 euros.
“It’s an
old terrace house with high ceilings.
Alas like many homes in Brussels it’s poorly insulated. There are seven of us and we’ve all been
working from home last year. That put up
consumption. That and higher energy
prices have landed us with an outlandish bill!” says Joris.
He accepts
some people are in an even worse predicament.
“We are all in work and can divvy up the bill, but what about families
with children?”
“I had just
managed to save a little, but that will now all be gone. Fortunately, together we can manage but we
hardly ever have the heating on nowadays!”
The group
never considered changing supplier. “It’s
been a lesson to us” sighs Joris. “From
now on we will go compare.”
