A report issued by the Auditor General confirmed that people are being overcharged in their energy bills, PN MPs David Agius and Ryan Callus said in a press conference.
“The way the government has been working out the bills has resulted in theft,” they said. “The theft amounts to a total of €6.5 million per year.”
The Nationalist Party MPs, asked to indicate how they reached this amount, the PN MPs quoted from the report.
They pointed to a table which compares an annualised and pro rata electricity billing methodology.
The NAO report reads: “The NAO’s analysis shows that 46% of the total analysed accounts (39 out of 85 accounts) did not reveal any significant variance between the current pro rata and annualised billing methodology that is, the difference between the two calculations was less than €2. Nonetheless, 32 out of the 85 electricity accounts reviewed registered a difference between the current pro rata and annualised billing methodology of more than €10. The range of this difference was between €10.74 and €468.90. The latter amount relates to a domestic account with heavy consumption. 78% (25 out of 32) of these variances relate to the category between €10 and €50”
“When extrapolating these results on the total 324,501 electricity accounts, a net variance of around €4.6 million between the pro rata and annualised billing methodologies will result. On the other hand, an annualised billing system will also lead to cases where consumers incur higher utility costs,” the report reads.
The PN MPs took this €4.6 million figure and added it to the figure regarding water bills. The NAO had undertaken the same exercise for water bills and found that “when extrapolating the results on the total 294,613 water accounts, a net variance of around €1.9 million between the pro-rata and annualised billing methodologies will result. On the other hand, an annualised billing system will also lead to cases where consumers incur higher utility costs.”
The MPs mentioned PN Leader Bernard Grech’s promise, "to pay back the money stolen through the water and energy bills," which the PN says amounts to around €50 million.
Agius took aim at TVM over the way it reported the NAO’s findings. He also urged people to check their bills.
Callus said: “We are not saying that those who waste should not pay. We love the environment and we had introduced the eco contribution, but we are saying that you should pay for what you consume, and not pay for theft.”
PL Reaction
The Labour Party however said that the NAO’s report contradicted the PN’s “spin” and confirmed that the accounting system has remained the same as it was under the PN – meaning that the only difference since then are “cheaper bills.”
The PL said that the NAO said that “hurried” and “not thought out” proposals like those of the PN, bills will end up increasing, and reminded that the government had promised a reform to the system “which makes sense for everyone.”
The party warned that if the PN were to make it to government they would do like they did before 2013 and increase bills, while the PL is a guarantee of lower bills.