Surge in power bills for Ipoh folk - The Star

May 2, 2010

IPOH: Houseowners in various parts of the city are getting a nasty shock over the sudden spike in their electricity bills.

Contractor Tan Jia Fatt, 40, said he was taken aback when he received a bill on April 23 for RM434.

“Usually, I pay between RM100 and RM200 each month for my electricity bill.

“However, the bill came up to a whopping RM434 last month,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Pasir Pinji DAP service centre here yesterday.

Another disgruntled consumer, who only wished to be known as Mrs Chew, said she had initially thought the nearly two-fold jump in her bill was due to an increase in power tariff.

“Normally, my bill is about RM90 but last month, it was RM159,” said the 49-year-old housewife, adding that she had also not installed any new electrical appliance at her Seri Pengkalan home to warrant such an increase.

“The drastic increase has brought unnecessary burden to me,” she said.

Pasir Pinji assemblyman Thomas Su said the problem was due to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) billing consumers every alternate month for electricity consumption.

“This system of billing consumers every alternate month has seriously short-changed them,” he claimed, adding that his service centre had been inundated with such complaints.

Su urged TNB to revert to its previous practice of billing houseowners for the actual month of their consumption, adding that the utility company should also suspend the payment for April’s electricity bill pending an investigation.

“The reason given by TNB for alternate billing is that they lack manpower but this does not make sense.

“If they are really facing manpower shortage, how can all the bills for all the consumers be sent out on April 23?” he said, adding that he had since highlighted the grouses to TNB Perak’s regional office.

Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang said TNB should explain its method of calculation which had led to higher electricity bills.

Both the assemblymen and Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan will be compiling complaints on the electricity bills today at their respective service centres.

Consumers facing similar predicament are urged to bring copies of their March and April electricity bills.