First came the pandemic, followed by the disruption of the Hunter Street Mall redevelopment. In recent months steadily rising cost of living pressures have made it even more challenging to operate a cafe in central Newcastle.
Lucy Glover, said the impending power price increases of up to 28.9 per cent from July 1 would drive her business, Ka-Fey, to the brink of collapse.
"We had a dramatic downturn last month, I would imagine it was the same for most businesses around here," she said.
"We already have extraordinarily high power bills, another 28 per cent would probably knock us out."
And she's not alone. Large and small Hunter businesses told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday that they doubted their capacity to absorb the latest power price increases and still remain viable.
Ms Glover has been operating the business for the past years with a staff of four.
She said business costs were already being kept to a minimum.
"We are very frugal on our heating. The coffee machine has to be on all of the time, plus all of the fridges and freezers. There's nothing we can cut down on basically."
She said she would probably have to draw on savings to keep the cafe afloat.
Meanwhile, Dungog General Store owner Michael Dowling said his business's power bill was presently $3000 a quarter.
He estimated a 28 per cent increase would add at least another $3000 to his bills.
"Where is that money going to come from? We are already struggling, the community is struggling with the cost of living," he said.
Mr Dowling said his store's rooftop was not suitable to install solar panels on. But like most business operators, he was already keenly aware of the need to conserve energy.
"I turn off the lights and everything I can to save power but you can't turn off the cool room and you can't turn off the bowsers."
"I can't change my habits much more than I already have and I can't sell more goods if people aren't travelling as much because they can't afford to. It's tough out there. The question becomes 'how do I keep going?'
Business Hunter chief executive, Bob Hawes Mr Hawes Australian Energy Market Regulator latest advice on power prices was a bitter pill for businesses to swallow.
"Businesses have been holding their breath for some time now, with increasing uncertainty over energy pricing and reliability holding them largely at ransom. Double digit cost increases do not give businesses confidence to embark on growth or expansion plans, and in many cases, casts a shadow on their ability to maintain current operations," he said.
Mr Hawes said news was compounded by the latest advice from the Energy Corporation of NSW that the investment required to deliver on NSW's Renewable Energy Zones had increased substantially and the timeframe been delayed.
"This will make our pathway to the renewables Garden of Eden even longer and more uncertain. It's distressing to hear that things keep sliding. We've got a very clear picture of where we want to get to, yet we can't seem to get there," Mr Hawes said.
"Progress on renewables is going to necessitate an enormous degree of capital investment, land, materials and labour and the decisions around those realms dislike uncertainty," said.
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