Falklands : Alternatives Sought for Electricity Payments
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 17.04.2006 (Article Archived on 01.05.2006)
People in the Falklands do not want to go back to the old meter reading method.
ALTERNATIVES SOUGHT FOR ELECTRICITY PAYMENTS
By J. Brock (FINN)
On the 4th of April this year the Public Works Department sent electricity users – all in Stanley and many in Camp – a notice that the Meter Card System would be discontinued. In its place the Power station would revert back to reading meters. In this case it would be every six months with invoices sent to customers every alternate quarter.
Immediately an outcry was raised by people who remember what it was like when metres were read before. They were faced with huge electricity bills that reeked havoc with monthly budgets. People on fixed incomes suffered the most with bills taking up a huge proportion of their earnings.
Using cards meant consumers had the opportunity to purchase electricity as they used it and were more able to manage an evenly distributed £15.00 to £50.00 per month, rather than struggling to pay £90.00 to £300.00 every six months. Add to this the fact that the higher price for electricity is paid when the invoices are sent out and you get very discouraged customers because they pay more even prior to fuel price rises.
For the power station, however, there were difficulties getting the 700 plus electric card meters re-calibrated each time the price of fuel went up. People with card meters were making savings that should have gone to FIG. The time/money consuming re-calibrations were not economical and FIG lost revenue as a result of their use.
One alternative to this would help to save money for FIG and the consumer that deals with purchasing Unit Cards rather than monetary denomination cards. When electricity prices increase you pay more for the Unit Card. There would be no need to re-calibrate the metres as any fluctuation in price would be taken care of at the till. Fig would recover the increase immediately and people purchasing a card would be able to pay as they use the electricity.
I have no doubts that for a time we will all have to put up with the old meter reading system but we can use the time to get acquainted with relating electrical appliances to the units they use. My plan will be to read my meter on a weekly basis and calculate the number of units and multiply it by the cost per unit. Then I will multiply – to be safe – that number by 4.5, getting an approximate number of units that will be used during a month. Units I estimate will be compared with what the actual reading is at the end of the month.
This way, I can estimate that 100 Units will cost £17.00, a 125 Unit Electricity Card will cost £21.25 and a 250 Unit Electricity Card at .17P will cost me £42.50. Having several Unit Amounts will give people the option to add a little extra per month during the winter and save during the summer. Cards with 10, 25, 50, 100, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 Units on them would help the customer buy what they need and help save money.
The power section should benefit by giving advice to people about energy saving devices and how to use appliances wisely. This would result in efficient use of power and a reduction in the amounts of expensive fuel that the power station uses.
At the next public meeting to be held on Tuesday, 25 April 2006 at 1700hrs in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall, electric meters will be discussed. It is hoped that as many people as possible will come to that meeting and put forward their views.
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