ELECTRICITY company, Sevillana Endesa, this week defended its new billing procedure.
As reported last week in CAN 180, the new monthly billing system has resulted in sharp rises in some customers’ bills and seen consumer rights organisations flooded with queries.
The change in the system was introduced as a result of the Real Decreto 1578/2008 of September 26 which established that billing for domestic use of electricity up to 10 kilowatts must be done monthly from November 1 of last year, part of a government energy saving scheme to make home owners more aware of the amount of electricity being used.
Salvador Salazar of Sevillana Endesa said the billing procedure affected 89 per cent of the 4.7 million customers the company had in Andalucía and the province of Badajoz in Extremadura. He claimed customers were not being forced to pay more.
He explained the first bill of each two-monthly period would be for an estimated amount calculated using the customer’s average consumption from the year before, claiming the second bill would be based on an actual meter reading and any amounts overcharged in the first bill would be subtracted from the second month’s.
Costa Almería News asked him why the problem could not be solved by conducting monthly meter readings. He said: “At the moment Endesa are not making more declarations on this subject as we have observed that the fuss made in the media is creating the impression that this is a problem caused by Sevillana Endesa when we are only trying to obey Spanish law.”
Despite Endesa’s promises to rectify over charging with deductions from the second month’s bills, criticism has centred on the effect the artificially high bills in the first month will have on people living on a tight budget.
Nigel Rogers, who lives in Arboleas, said his bill had risen from 49 euros in December to 298 euros in January. He said: “Pensioners have already lost enough through the fall in value of the pound. We don’t need companies overcharging us, even if they do promise to pay it back.”
Christine Stalham from Serón said she and her husband both worked but disagreed with the billing procedure. “Our bill leapt from 94 euros to 471. When we went to complain the Endesa office was packed with people, all with similar gripes.”
The Popular Party this week demanded that Minister of Industry Miguel Sebastián explain to the Spanish parliament how the supposed irregularities in electricity bills had occurred.
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.