Pensioners shock over €7,000 electricity bill

A RETIRED couple in Nerja say they were shocked when they received an electricity bill for more than €7,000. They say bills for the previous months were on average between €100 and €120 every two months, although some bills where as little as €20. They live in a rustic house by the Chillar River and the €7,000 electricity bill was for the period October to December 2010.

According to the couple, the property does not even have any heating or air conditioning, just several lights, a television, stove, fridge and washing machine.

Antonio Ramirez considered that the charges he has received did not even come “close to reflecting the actual consumption.” The electricity bill reported a consumption of 47,581 kilowatts in two months. The 74-year old believes “it must be a mistake since this is a normal house, not a factory.”

“It would be impossible for me to pay this with a pension of just €596,” he exclaimed.

“When we received the letter we got a huge shock, and my blood pressure rose from the stress induced.”

Ramirez has complained to Sevillana-Endesa who urged him to call an electrician to review the installation of the house and main counter.

“This has already been done and verified that everything is correct, so the error must be elsewhere.”

For the time being he has told his bank to reject the bill when it comes, until the problem has been resolved. Endesa explained the bill by saying that the counter had not been read since 2004, according to spokesman for Andalucia, Salvador Salazar.

They are investigating why, will review the reading and if necessary re-invoice.

In the event that the reading is correct they will offer the customer the possibility of splitting the bill into smaller payments.

By Nicole Hallett

Picture Credit: brianjmatis