CEZ urged to compensate electricity consumers

TIRANA, June 21 – The Ombudsman’ s office has called on the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) to take measures for the compensation of electricity consumers who were overcharged at the beginning of this year. In an open letter to ERE’s director Bujar Nepravishata, Ombudsman Ermir Dobjani says the OSSH, owned by Czech Republic’s CEZ, has not compensated consumers overcharged for the December electricity bills which were calculated with the new price increases due to enter into force in January 2010.
The Ombudsman’s office said it receives numerous complains by household consumers claiming they are charged more than they consume and that employees often do not fill in the bills based on power meter data.
Last month, the Energy Regulatory Agency (ERE) announced the deadline for payment of fixed-rate electricity bills has expired and that starting from this month fixed-rate bills will be banned.
According to ERE’s 2009 report, there are 84,000 consumers without power meters, affecting both the Energy Distribution System Operator (OSSH) privatized by Czech company, CEZ, and consumers.