Fenaka: Not a billing error, electricity consumption high due to heat

Fenaka Corporation states that it is able to ascertain that the high electricity bill for March was not due to a billing error, and that the high bill was due to an increase in electricity consumption.

The statement comes amid concern over the electricity bill for March being higher than usual.

The contrast is especially glaring after a Ramadan discount that saw the bill capped at MVR 400 the previous month.

In an interview to Public Service Media (PSM), Fenaka’s Chief Technical Officer Abdulla Nashith said the corporation is certain that there’s no issue with readings from electricity meters.

He also noted that the Maldives generally observes its warmest period from March to April, resulting in higher electricity consumption.

“We have built a good correlation on this, we have observed this over the last seven to 10 years,” he said.

Nashith said that Fenaka has received complaints over higher electricity bills during the warm season last year as well.

He said that it is not a billing issue, but due to higher electricity consumption.

“The reason why we are able to ascertain this is because even if we look at [electricity] generation at power houses or diesel generation, it rises by 25 percent in each and every island during the warm season. And when we look at diesel generation, diesel consumption or the quantity of diesel we burn also increases by that much,” he said, explaining that it is not a billing error.