ERE concerned over CEZ performance

TIRANA, March 7 – The electricity distribution operator, run by Czech Republic’s CEZ, has not been fair with consumers issuing arbitrary bills and overcharging consumers, the Energy Regulatory Entity said in its 2010 report. ERE identified problems in the billing procedures especially during the closing months of 2010 when CEZ Shperndarje issued around 20,000 bills in violation of the law and Code punishing household consumers with 4,000 kw/h and business consumers with 20,000 kw/h as ‘economic damage” and unmeasured electricity.”
ERE also raised the concern of delays by CEZ in treating consumer complaints despite the establishment of the Customer Care Centre.
The Energy Regulatory Entity said it received 350 complaints on CEZ’s performance in 2010, four times more than in 2009 because of the company’s incorrectness with customers.
ERE is already working on a new draft contract which will oblige electricity distribution operator run Czech Republic’s CEZ to take responsibility for power failures. The contract which is in its final phase of discussion with interest groups came after continuous complaints mostly by business but also household consumers over the poor quality of electricity offered by the electricity distribution operator, privatized by Czech Republic’s CEZ since March 2009. Last December, Albania’s Energy Regulatory Agency (ERE) decided to keep electricity prices for 2011 unchanged, turning down requests by the three local operators which would increase power prices by an average of 12 percent for 2011.
ERE’s board of commissioners decided to continue applying the two-tier price level, under which Albanian households will pay 7.7 lek/kWh for a consumption of up to 300 kWh a month and 13.5 lek for each kWh they consume above the 300 kWh threshold.