€3.7k gas bill just one of many incidents that led to 74% rise in energy customer complaints

Wildly inflated estimates that initially are used to bill customers in many cases bear no reality to the actual meter readings that take place subsequently. File picture

Everyone was braced for heavier-than-usual energy bills this winter, but the eye-popping numbers that came through letterboxes still came as a shock to many.

Most households had taken measures to reduce their energy footprint over the winter months but when it came down to brass tacks, the sums being charged for two-month cycles are scarcely credible.