annettelouise

Hi I have a villa in Guadamar del Segura , Costa Blanca.
I need to know how to tackle my electricity supplier. My supplier was/is HC Energia, this was the supplier that was already organised through my builder when i bought my villa off plan 5 years ago. My husband and i only get to visit the villa once maybe twice a year so our bills should be small. We had no problems the first few years, but last year i got a phone call from a neighbor to say that our electricity had been cut off. I didnt know what the problem was as i though that there was enough money in the bank to cover the bills( taking in to consideration that we hadnt been to the villa for 8 months) I contacted HC Energia and even though i thought the bill was high i paid it , because i have learned from experience the more i try to sort things out in Spain the more i feel i am banging my head up a wall.! A few months later my husband and his friend flew out for a short break only to find that the electricity had been cut off again. He promptly went to HC Energia and enquired what was going on. They informed him that we owed them money. What was explained was that they now estimate the first month and read the meter bi monthly. But we then explained that surely even if the meter was estimated extremely high that when they actually read it they would see that no electricity had been used and they could then re-evaluate what we owed them, ( we we thought should just about be a standing charge)
My husband gave them a meter reading but they say that they dont owe us any money. My husband had to give them 580 euros to be reconnected, which they said that they would come out and do. THey never came and have now refused to reconnect us unless we give them another extortionate amount. I have contacted my lawyer in Spain, they are a waste of time!
I am at my wits end, i am going to fly out at the end of January to see if i can sort it out once and for all, but as you expats know it might not happen.
So what i need is some advice on Electricty and the name of a good Lawyer in the area. Sorry such a long thread but once i got typing i couldnt stop.

snikpoh

Hi,

Unfortunately this is an all to common experience.

Firstly (once reconnected again), check that the meter is not moving when you have nothing on in the house. It is quite common to find that you are paying for someone else's electricity as well.

The other issue is that (in my experience) the companies do estimate on the high side and this has to be paid before they will offer any refund (against future bills).

Do you always make sure that the main switch is turned off every time you leave?

Sorry, not from your area but I'm sure others will have recomendations regarding electricians/abogados.

annettelouise

Hi thanks for the quick reply. We do leave the electricity on as we have an irrigation system on a timer and a burglar alarm.

missile

You may have a standing charge i.e. even when you are not there. You might want to switch to Ibedrolla, I find them quite easy to deal with.

You might want to check meter readings. It is not uncommon for cowboy builders to tap into meter boxes when they are working nearby. If they know you are not there, your box might be an easy target.

Guardamar is nice

annettelouise

Hey, thanks for the advise. I have spoken to Ibedrola , they have advised my to sort out my supply with H C Energia then contact them and they will gladly take over the contract. In your experience how much do you pay for a standard charge before elec consumption?

annettelouise

Oh and yes Guadamar is lovely, just wish i could spend more time there

bobd22

Hi I am in a similar position to yourself visit my house every 3 months turn all electric off though on return. My standing charge per month with Endesa is in the region of 12 euro per month. I paid about 60 euro 18 months ago and since then have only paid the standing charge as I am still under the reading they have. I am online with them but you can only update your reading once it is higher than the estimated reading.

snikpoh

Our standing charge with Iberdrola for a 3.5kW supply is about 8euros/month (depending how many days in the month of course).




[3.464kW x 0.056529€ /day x no. of days] +

[no. of days x 0.050301€ /day]

missile

I pay a bit more than you even when I am not there as we have 5kW supply and a pool.

If you are not in Spain perhaps your neighbour could check the meter readings?

annettelouise

Thanks everyone for your advise it has been really helpful, and its nice to know that there are people out there that can give advise. It has been eye opening to see exactly what the standing charge is for people. So far i have paid H C Energia 900 euros since last August, bit high considering that there was only one 4 day visit to my villa in a year!I am flying out at the end of January and i am taking my spanish friend , so hopefully at least there wont be a language barrier. I' let you all know how i get on trying to get my money back, (im not holding my breath)

missile

That is circa 53€ per month? Doesn't seem high to me. FYI, I paid 98.42€ to Iberdrolla and 71.22€ to Aquagest last month whilst I was in the UK.
It is a shame you are not able to make more use of your villa

EsuriJohn

We managed to get a refund from endesa for over estimated bills of €600 (the man in the endesa shop said this was the biggest he had seen).