high electricity bills

Hello

I bought a house near Mijas on the Costa del Sol in November 2008.

It is rented out for 6 months over the summer and the rest of the time I visit about once a month for about 4 days

My electricity contact is with Endesa and the bills are paid by direct debit - over the past year my elecricity bills have amounted to 1600 euros which seems a bit high to me but then I don't know if charges are high in Spain - everything else seems very expensive

I have tried to contact Endesa to query the bill but no one speaks English and my Spanish is not yet very good

Does anybody know if there is an English speaking department or a direct dial telephone number to anyone who speaks English or if there is a local Endesa office in the Costa del Sol.

Any help would be appreciated

Ian  

Hi davenport,

I have also had problems with my bills, you need to check the meter, at the moment they are doing  a lot of estimate readings and this means that most of the time they are charging you for electricity you have not used yet. 

The other thing to do is switch the mains of the electric off and check if the meter is still running as this would mean that you have some sort of problem and would need to call an electritian.

I had to go to the Endesa office with the real reading for the bills and just for my December bill i went from an estimate bill of €235.23 to a real reading bill of €52.76.

Joan

Do you leave a key with anybody? Could they be using the electric? I had a similar problem and I soon found out the answer as when I left for a few weeks I took an electric meter reading and on my return 800 units had been used!!!! Neadless to say they no longer have a key.

Take a reading when you leave next time and see what is on the meter when you get back, if you turn everything off then no electric should be being used. Also you should do a reading on daily basis to find out how much electric you are using we use around 10 units a day on average. My electric bill is usually around 50e-60e a month (with no heating costs included) and everything else I have is electric (No aircon).

Electricity bill are definitely high in Spain....more expensive than the UK I think and the worrying thing is that they are only set to soar in the coming years.

I work in the business, and we often find people don't realise how much electricity people use in maintaining hot water, even if they are not actually at the property. (obviously this depends on what kind of system you have).

In any case, I think there is also a lack of awareness about the potential huge subsidies available from the Andalucian government. Depending on the property and type of installation required, you can get subsidies ranging from 40 to 80%.

However, you need to do it through a company that's got the necessary accreditation from the Andalucian government to carry out such projects and there are only a handful of companies that have it....you won't be surprised to hear that we are one of them!

With regards to Ian - who started the thread - I'm not sure whether you would be eligible if you're not living in Spain (worth looking into) but for anyone living in Spain, it would be crazy not to explore the opportunity....get subsidised to reduce your bills! Having said that, even if you you're not eligible for the subsidy, solar power is definitely worth thinking about.

Graham

Oasis Climate Control 

Tel: 638321343

I'm really concerned that I'm being charged around 40e per month for an empty apartment in Benalmadena.  I'm in the UK and can't get over very often and I know the property is empty.

I think I shall have to change the lock to my apartment, to be on the safe side, but how do I get a key to get into the electricty cupboard?  All the meters for the block are in one place in a locked cupboard situated outside so it will be interesting to see if the meter's still running when I turn the mains off or wose still, if someone else has tapped into my meter!!

Just to follow up my earlier post, I was referring to subsidies from the Andalucia government specifically for solar installations  - I don't think I made that clear.

Graham

Is solar just for houses or can it be installed in apartments.  Also could a whole community benefit by changing to solar energy.

Solar can be installed for individual apartments but it can be trickier. However, in principle it can be done, depending on the property.

What is certainly possible and encouraged by the 'Junta de Andalucia' is for whole apartment blocks to have solar installed. In fact, these types of projects are likely to get even more heavily subsidised. Obviously, if you ever came to selling your apartment, that could be a big selling point if the whole block has got solar power and you can prove how much less your bills are. So, it should be in the interest of everyone in the block.

Graham

Thanks Graham,  something to think about