The electricity bill is twice the rent?! The coffee shop owner is dumbfounded!

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Recently, it was reported that an inflatable doll hung from the glass window of a cafe in Rome, Italy. It was wearing a red apron, transparent tape was strangled from its throat, and a yellow note saying "here comes the bill" on its chest attracted people's attention. Such an artistic act of helplessness is the "silent protest" of an Italian cafe during the energy crisis.

Laura Moni, the cafe's operator, said the move was caused by the high electricity bill the cafe recently faced. "I feel like I'm hanging up," she said. "I can't afford it. The bill is too expensive and the income is very small. That's how I feel. It's how a vendor like me feels." In June and July, the cafe's electricity bill totaled about 2600 euros, compared with about 900 euros in the same period last year.

Laura said she was overwhelmed by the bills and had to resign two employees, raise some commodity prices and apply to pay the bills in installments in order to stay in business. Affected by the European energy crisis, Italian people's energy spending has generally risen. "fewer customers come to my cafe because they spend more on other things," Laura said.

In the face of the environmental and energy crisis, the upcoming autumn and winter season has added more uncertainty to the future of the cafe. The global energy crisis heralds a colder and more difficult winter, especially in Europe, where energy savings, windfall taxes and the resumption of coal-fired nuclear power. Despite all its efforts, Europe has failed to press the pause button for the massive energy crisis. Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the European energy crisis has intensified, fossil fuels are in short supply, prices are soaring, and the electricity market is almost out of control.

Recently, the owner of a coffee shop in Crumlin, Dublin, Europe, was "frightened" when he received the electricity bill because the electricity bill was "twice the rent" of the coffee shop. Paul McDonald, the owner of Pip's Cafe and Deli, said that although the cafe business was still busy, the bill had "skyrocketed" to the point of living beyond its means. The bill on the cafe has risen from about 1200 euros to nearly 4000 euros in just six weeks. The shopkeeper is deeply worried that another bill will be received in the next few days.

In the past few months, cafes have received notifications from a number of suppliers, including energy suppliers, that prices and costs have been raised, some of which have even "risen by more than 50%". The rising cost includes almost everything, such as cups, boxes and cutlery. Even coffee beans are "crazy" rising prices because of the weather and other reasons. Due to rising costs, restaurants and cafes are unable to pass on all the costs to their customers, and now the busier they are, the worse they are.

Paul McDonald, the store owner, told the media that they were as busy as ever, but their profits were hit hard. He also said it was "impossible" to consider rising energy costs in revenue. This is very unfair and the government needs to step in and reduce taxes such as utilities. Otherwise, small businesses will be very difficult in the future, or even unable to survive.

In the UK, Ofgemm, the energy regulator, said earlier in August that the energy price ceiling for the average British household had risen by 80 per cent from October 1. This means that millions of Britons may not be able to pay for gas and electricity this winter. Germany will also impose a natural gas surcharge from October 1.

Energy price trend chart

You may not appreciate the seriousness of the energy crisis, but you will when you walk into ice cream shops, cafes, museums, including subways, all without air conditioning. This is not the worst. This winter, some less well-off families in the UK may face the choice of spending their money on food or energy, either starving or freezing.

Energy transformation must be based on basic national conditions and grasp the pace of transformation. Although Europe is determined to transform to green energy, there is still a long way to go for European energy development in the future, no matter from the perspective of guaranteed supply or low carbon. Coupled with the advent of the European debt crisis, it used to be those small economies, but now the fire is going to spread to Italy, Germany and even the United Kingdom. It is hard to imagine what will happen next and what a huge crisis the world will fall into.

Photo Source: Internet