A family-run pub in the heart of the Swansea valley has seen its gas bill rocket to ten times what it was. Suzette Sims, who runs the Butchers arms in Alltwen, was used to spending an average of £964 in a typical winter month. But last week, the 56-year-old was sent a bill of £9,000 for a period of just six weeks from the middle of August to September.
After calling her energy supplier on Friday, October 7, to query the bill, which had been sent to her in the post, she received a follow-up call to explain that the unit price had gone up ten times and she was asked to call back to work out a payment plan. Before April 31, Suzette was on a fixed contract rate which had a unit charge of 3.25p per kilowatt of power, but from August 21 the company's flexible rate sky-rocketed to 34p per kilowatt of power.
Suzette explained that The Butchers had closed each week for two and a half days, a measure that had been put in place since the business struggled during the pandemic. Due to hot weather in August and early September and an issue with their boiler, she said the heating was not even turned on until the third week of September. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
