During a recent visit to the Bronx, former President Donald Trump was visibly taken aback when local barber Javier Rodriguez shared the shocking spike in his utility bill.
Rodriguez, co-owner of Knockout Barber, told Trump that while rising rent is a concern, his real struggle has been soaring energy costs.
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“My issue was more the energy,” Rodriguez explained. “I've been paying $2,100 since I first opened up, and the last seven months it shot up to $15,000.”
Such an increase is sure to throw off your monthly budget, not to mention lower the profit you can make as a small business owner and your overall net worth. Trump, stunned, echoed the numbers back.
“What? You went from $2,100 to $15,000 — how many heads can you take care of [to make up the difference]? That’s a lot,” Trump said.
The exchange aired on “Fox & Friends” on Oct. 21, but a short clip of the visit posted on X has since amassed nearly 30 million views and over 100,000 likes, sparking a wave of reactions across social media.
Why is the bill so high?
The internet had plenty of questions — and theories — about the barber’s sky-high electricity bill.
One user on X speculated that someone at the shop was mining cryptocurrencies, an energy-intensive activity, commenting, “gotta tell your cousin to stop mining bitcoin.” The quip quickly became a top comment, gathering 18,000 likes.
Others doubted the credibility of the story, with one user saying, “$2,100 to $4,000 is believable but $15K no‼️ Not realistic.”
New York Times reporter Ashley Southall investigated further and found that the jaw-dropping bill stemmed from a meter error by Con Edison, Rodriguez’s utility provider.
The issue began in December when Con Edison installed a new smart meter at the shop, which malfunctioned but went unnoticed by Rodriguez until May, when his bills surged. By August, his bill had climbed to $13,099.31, with charges for almost 14 times his actual electricity usage.
Rodriguez raised the issue with Con Edison two months ago, something he claims to have mentioned to Trump during his visit. In mid-September, the company offered him a $50 “inconvenience relief” credit while they worked on adjusting his bill, according to Daily Mail.