Electric shock: Pensioner sees bill soar from €123 to €3,385 as meter is unread for two years
A pensioner received an 'astronomical' electricity bill because her meter had not been read in two years.
Electricity suppliers have been criticised in the Dáil after a pensioner received an 'astronomical' bill because her meter had not been read in two years.
Denis Naughten raised the issue of suppliers allowing estimated bills to continually roll over only to result in big bills being landed on the consumer.
Denis Naughten, TD for Roscommon/Galway, told the Dáil a constituent of his had been in contact after an electricity bill for €3,385 arrived.
The woman's previous bill was €123.
The arrears are being charged as the supplier had failed to read her meter for the past 24 months. The arrears are being charged at the current electricity rate which Mr Naughten said is compounding the financial hardship she is now facing.
Unsure how she would manage to pay the large sum and not knowing who to contact, a neighbour of the pensioner got in touch with Mr Naughten.
The Independent TD said this was not the first time he has heard of such bills arriving at people's door without any warning.
"On top of that, the electricity supplier increased in November of 2021, 17 months into this woman's billing period. So, a minimum of 9.3% more on her electricity bill than the electricity cost that she actually accrued," Mr Naughten said.
The bill came as a huge shock to the woman who would budget and set aside money for her bills and was not given any warning that her bill could skyrocket due to the meter not being read.
According to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), the supplier must make an attempt to read the meter four times a year.
Where they are unable to read it, they leave a card to let the resident know they called. It outlines how the individual can submit their own reading. If one is not provided by the person, an estimated read is used.
The CRU website does state that where there are a number of estimated bills in a row it can result in a large bill when an actual read is eventually taken but Mr Naughten said that the importance of getting a meter read is not made clear to consumers.
Understandably, meter readings were not conducted for a period during the pandemic but Mr Naughten said that during this time there was no information or encouragement given to people about submitting their own readings.
"Neither the practice of allowing estimated bills to continually roll over nor profiteering from backdating all arrears at the current unit rate should be tolerated."
Addressing Minister Eamon Ryan in the Dáil, Mr Naughten pointed to regulations in the UK which state that an electricity supplier cannot send a bill for energy used more than 12 months previously.
A similar rule here would act as an incentive for suppliers to ensure that meters are read because they will lose out financially if they do not.
"I wasn't very enamoured with the response that I got from Eamon Ryan," Mr Naughten told the .
"Minister Ryan gave no commitment to take such an approach, just to allow customers more time to pay the inflated bill."
While Mr Naughten said he has come across this issue quite regularly, he predicts there will be many more customers coming forward with similar issues in the next few months.
"Usually it only happens at a time when electricity prices are increasing," he said.
"I don't seem to have people coming to me when electricity prices are reducing which leads me to believe that when electricity prices are reducing the industry is far more active in ensuring that arrears don't accumulate.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just being cynical in relation to it."
Comreg, the communications regulator, has been contacted for comment.
