Electricity Bills to go back to Bi-monthly
January 25th, 2012
The invoicing for electricity is to go back to being bi-monthly. This was proposed by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism as a draft royal decree establishing that the billing of domestic electricity consumers should be based on actual meter readings, taken every two months.
With this new law, El Mundo reported that the Government will end the system implemented since September 2008, whereby the electricity bill is paid monthly even though the reading is done every two months, meaning that one of the two bills is calculated from estimates.
In a statement, the Ministry explained that with the new measure, the Government “wants the consumer to pay only for actual energy used”. They also indicated that customers can choose to keep the monthly billing system in place if they so wish.
The Ministry said that the system, still in force, has generated a significant number of complaints by consumers due to the complexity associated with the estimating of actual consumption.
To facilitate the implementation of billing for actual consumption, the draft royal decree introduces the possibility for consumers to provide their own meter reading in the case where a reading by the distributor is not possible. This system of consumers reading their own meter already exists for other services such as gas and water.
Related Posts
- Spanish Electricity Price Hike Turnaround
- Spanish Electricity Prices to Rise by 2.6% in 2010
- Electricity Demand Falls for the First Time in 2009
