A man who received a two-month electricity bill of almost €1,700 has said he will 'fight this all the way.'
Gerry Clarke (77) lives in Co Meath with his son and daughter-in-law, and said their usage has not changed in any way.
He told The Pat Kenny Show this time last year, his bill was €290 but has steadily climbed.
On Monday it went to €1,678.65.
Mr Kelly said he showed it to a statistics specialist, who told him, "it's the dearest bill in the world... for a household."
"Nothing has changed here, this is why I'm so concerned," he said.
"We use it just for light - we use oil for heating.
"We're using 63 units a day according to the bill - you wouldn't use it in a factory."
'Suddenly it explodes'
Mr Clarke said they have no devices to account for the massive increase.
"The first thing they did tell me to check was the water well," he said.
"He's coming out today to do that.
"All our other devices, I got it checked before, and everything was perfect.
"When we went with Electric Ireland originally, things were cheaper - now suddenly it just explodes."
An energy bill is seen in 2009. Picture by: Andrew Paterson / Alamy Stock PhotoHe said he intends to fight the amount on the bill.
"As one guy said, things like that make people homeless, even if they own [their] home," he said
"If they're not able to pay it, and they pay a small amount and then they continue to let the bill wrap up [and] it runs into €20,000, €30,000 - before you know it, you're out and you're homeless.
"We're going to fight this all the way; we're certainly not going to take this lying down".
'Standing up to energy firms'
Mr Clarke said the country needs to stand up to big energy companies.
"We don't have somebody in energy that's capable and able to fight off these executives in suits," he said.
"You need somebody very strong, and from here on in that's the way it's going to have to be.
"They're going to [need] somebody who knows what they're talking about, somebody who can negotiate properly," he added.
Listen back to the full interview below:
