Energy Minister Joe Mizzi took umbrage at implications that the government has not actually reduced electricity tariffs after the Labour Party was elected into power, adding that the complaints raised on the media have been duly noted while he is currently awaiting feedback to take a decision on the way forward.

Mizzi repeatedly said that upon reading the series of stories about the way ARMS is billing its consumers, the complaints have been forwarded to the relevant entities.

The Malta Independent spoke to Mizzi over the issue of ARMS billing more frequently, resulting in higher bills. Most people believe that the different electricity tariffs for different levels of consumption advertised on the ARMS website are based on annual consumption. (See links to stories below)

The principle behind the different tariffs is the more you consume, the more you pay. Tariffs start at 10c5 for the first 2000 units consumed, move on to 12c9 for the next 4,000 units, 16c for the next 4000 units after that, 35c for the next 10,000 units and 60c for anything beyond that.

More frequent bills means more expensive bills

The different rates are charged per household and not per person. When the smart meters were introduced in Malta, almost 10 years ago, it made it possible for people to start receiving their bills every two months based on actual consumption without a meter reader coming home. While some people today still receive a meter reader at their door, these are in the minority and has something to do with “reachability of meters”, to quote replies received by an ARMS spokesperson.

 Despite their being no explanation whatsoever, not on the ARMS or Enemalta website, or by any politician coming from successive governments, ARMS calculates bills based on a system of quota rationing.

It takes the global figures quoted above, for instance 2,000 units at 10c5, and divides the units by 365 days (one year) and again multiplies by the number of days covering a particular bill in question.

In effect, ARMS is cutting up the differently-priced units of electricity per day, which gives you 5.479 units per day at 10c5, some 10.959 units per day at 12c9 and so on. While people in smaller households with only one or two people living inside may not have noticed an increase in their bills, because they consume their electricity more smoothly and may spend much time out of the house, families have certainly noticed an increase in their bills.

Some have called for the bills to be issued every six months so that high consumption may be offset by low consumption resulting in a fairer rationing of the quotas, while others say that if ARMS carries out a reconciliation exercise at the end of the year based on annual consumption, it could rebate customers for any overpayment.

Energy Minister Joe Mizzi’s stresses ARMS has not changed its billing system

The Malta Independent asked Mizzi whether he is going to push for ARMS to carry out this reconciliation exercise, and in the absence of this, will he be pushing for the information provided to citizens through the ARMS website and by politicians themselves to be more clear on how the bills are being calculated. People are actually turning to a support group which explains the bills to them since many find it confusing to understand.

“Let’s start from here. Some are trying to imply that tariffs have not gone down. I guarantee they went down by 25 per cent, as promised when the government was elected into power, which is an undisputable fact.

“This billing system has been in place for many years and has not changed. The issue at hand is the eco-reduction workings.”

This newsroom interjected here to say that the issue is not just about the eco-reduction benefit, but the system in general.

“Tariffs have gone down drastically by 25 per cent. There were arguments and suggestions otherwise, but as I said the complaints have been sent to appropriate entities, inclusive of the regulator.”

Mizzi also stressed that there is an ongoing court case therefore he must be careful not to prejudice the case.

When pressed about the implication there are reports about how the electricity tariffs themselves had not gone down, something this newsroom never said, Mizzi hit back with:

“I am talking about what all reports. The impression is being given that the tariffs have not gone down when in fact they have.

“The same system has been used for many years, it’s been going on for 10 years. As I said I have passed on these complaints to the relevant entities.”

Further pressed about leaving partisan politics out of it, Mizzi again stressed that there has been no change in the way ARMS is calculating its bills and that this newsroom has unwittingly admitted that the system became more efficient.

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