SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya -- A social media post of a customer having a P6 million bill on his electricity bill went viral on Friday, for which the concerned electric cooperative had earned manifold criticisms from the netizens.
A member-consumer of barangay San Juan Solano, Nueva Vizcaya was shocked upon receiving his electric bill reaching P6 million.
Residents here said that many are expecting high rates of electricity but never thought that a single consumer would receive such a huge bill.
“The surging power rates were already unbearable and too heavy on our pocket and yet there is this kind of billing,” a resident told Manila Bulletin.
The consumer whose bill reached P6 million immediately proceeded to the Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative (Nuvelco) in Gabut, Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya to inquire on his billing.
The concern of the consumer was immediately addressed by the management.
Nuvelco issued an official statement on the issue:
“The management of Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative issued this official statement in response to the recent post of a consumer regarding a bill amounting to P6,704,552.13.”
Nuvelco said this ‘is one of the isolated cases of erroneous reading committed by our meter reader.’
“The meter reader mistakenly included the Previous Reading as part of the Present Reading causing the system to calculate it incorrectly.”
“Previous reading is 401 and Present Reading should have been 467 but it was erroneously input as 401467. Nevertheless, appropriate actions have been undertaken to correct the mistake.”
The Electric cooperative said that they are taking the responsibility of ensuring that appropriate amounts are charged to the member consumer-owners.