Cold caller from Endesa.

[Guanche]

We have just had a woman from Endesa knock on the front door and I'm a bit confused. She was from the peninsula and to be honest I couldn't understand a word she said. So I was dependent on the wife, who due to partial deafness doesn't hear or understand everything she's told. What she managed to understand is that due to Endeas losing so many customers they have decided to change the contracts.

It seems that like many other Spanish utility's they have been ripping people off. Just check your last bill and see if you have 'PRODUCT PVPC' written on it any where. Ours is under the bold letters 'Facturacion' Now if you have that it would seem that every couple of months there is an automatic price hike. According to the woman nobody knows about it. I can only assume its a bit like the 'Calusa Suelo'? Its not much of a hike but its there non the less.
So this woman got the wife to sign a new contract, or I should say an amendment to the old contract enabling Endeas to cancel the 'Product PVPC' And stop the automatic hikes.

She also changed our 'potencia' which at the moment stands at 5.52kW. She reduced it to 4.40kW a possible saving of €10 a month.  Now it would seem that the people who are presently going round door to door are only targeting people who pay by standing order, and if you miss the knock on the door that's it!

I was deeply suspicious so got the wife to ring Endeas and they confirmed that the woman was from them and its all above board. But why do I have a very bad feeling 

Sorry to be very vague and short on detail but you now know as much as I do. Anyone heard of this?

[Delderek]

The thing that would worry me is the reduction of the potencia. 5.5kw is barely enough for modern living, and to reduce it down seems strange, but not knowing how they administer this, it could mean nothing. But I have a sneaking suspicion that if you exceed the new rating, your unit costs will increase out of all proportion. Just my normal sceptical self

[Perikles]

She also changed our 'potencia' which at the moment stands at 5.52kW. She reduced it to 4.40kW a possible saving of €10 a month. 

Looking at our most recent bill, we paid €33 for our 5.52kW potencia for two months. That means around €17 per month. But this charge is proportional to number of kW used during that month (or previous month?) so it could be greater if you use more. Although I don't know how much the 4.40 kW tariff is, it was not much less than the 5.52, because I remember when starting the contract there was not much in it. On that basis, I suspect the "possible saving of €10 a month" is only true if you run your own dry cleaning business or aluminium smelting plant. It's bloody typical that the "up to" represents a theoretical maximum which nobody achieves, but is not actually a lie.

I agree with Del that 4.4 kW is not very much. neither is  5.52. I think our oven uses 3 kW and the tumble drier uses at least 2kW, the microwave almost 1kW, the washing machine at least that. On occasions we must have exceeded our 5.52, but I have no idea what happens if you do. Presumably there are mains fuses which blow, but ours never have.

I think Del is right to be cynical about this change, but I cannot see how Endesa could possibly change the kW tariff depending on whether you are using more than your "potencia". The meter records current, not cost. It does not record the kW used at the time.

The only way they could get you is if during a 2-month period your consumption is such that they could show that you were using (say) 5 kW for 24 hours every day when your potencia was only 4.4. But nobody could ever manage that. Your bill could be astronomical but still using less than 4.4 all the time. The consumption is typically very low (fridge, computer, TV) with spikes when you use the dishwasher, oven, etc, but I can't see how they could monitor this.

[Janet]

I'm now mystified about this PVPC ... apparently it used to be TUR ... and it doesn't seem related to a "price hike" but is a voluntary tariff (of up to 3.5???) ...

HERE is the explanation.. Furthermore, from a PVPC link on the left, there is then THIS.

The "voluntario" bit seems to relate to the fact that consumers may now choose their supplier. Can anyone explain WTF they are talking about??

[Delderek]

The only way they could get you is if during a 2-month period your consumption is such that they could show that you were using (say) 5 kW for 24 hours every day when your potencia was only 4.4. But nobody could ever manage that. Your bill could be astronomical but still using less than 4.4 all the time. The consumption is typically very low (fridge, computer, TV) with spikes when you use the dishwasher, oven, etc, but I can't see how they could monitor this

Maybe they fit a new meter. Are "Smart meters" being fitted yet in Tenerife ? (linked by GSM phone network). If so these submit a reading every thirty minutes.

[Janet]

yes, we've got one that a satellite type phone thing is used with ...

[Nova]

It seems a bit better explained HERE 

[Janet]

it's still gobbledegook ... my brain doesn't understand info presented like this. WTF are they saying?? 

[Nova]

Dunno, it had the same effect on me too 

[Perikles]

yes, we've got one that a satellite type phone thing is used with ...

Er - not what Del meant. The bloke reading the meter by eye had a GPS thingy to tell him where he was, to identify the meter being read. The genius then asked me whether there were any other electricity meters to be read further up our road (which peters out into hills). He could probably have seen the electricity cables above his head leading up the hill to where there must obviously be another meter, but he couldn't make the connection. (Shocking pun, but it has potential)