Heat and Electricity
The heat has arrived with a vengeance. It was over 40ºC (104ºF) yesterday, and today seems likely to be the same. Going outside in the middle of the day is becoming painful. Basically, I try to get all my errands done in the early morning, and if I miss that window of opportunity then it is best to wait until evening unless it is an emergency! The air conditioning is running full blast, slowly killing the planet and raising our electricity bill.
Speaking of electricity bills, I have now learned about the “interesting” system used here in Malta. For the last several months we have been receiving electricity/water bills (combined) and paying them on time. But it turns out that they were not actual bills. They were *estimates* on what the utility company *thinks* we have consumed. Then at some point they take the trouble to actually read the meters. Imagine that, reading the meters whose only purpose is to let the utility company know how much we have consumed!! So now, after all these months, we received an actual bill, except that it has a few problems.
First, all of the payments we have made are not take into account! Only a small one has been credited. Second, a government surcharge is added each month. But, instead of billing it each month, they have put all of them since September in one bill, which adds up to a hefty sum. Third, the whole bill is such a mess that neither M nor I can make much sense of it, no matter how many times we go through it. The dates it covers are not clear, and some random credits and debits show up which simply are unintelligible.
So, now M will have to go in person to the utility company, with all of our receipts, and find out what is going on. Mostly, I simply do not understand this complicated system one bit. Why don’t they just take a reading every month or two, and send a bill based on actual usage?? The phone company does not expect payments based on estimated phone calls, the supermarket does not charge you based on estimated items bought, restaurants do not give you a bill based on estimated food eaten. So this whole estimate system makes no sense whatsoever. The amount of time, money and human energy wasted on this system is baffling.
To top things off, we have been having electricity blackouts over the last couple of weeks. More and more demand for air conditioning is to blame, I suppose. Apparently the traditional Maltese houses had tile floors and high ceilings, and were designed to stay cool. People lived like that for centuries. Now, more and more high-rises are going up which are basically heat-keeping boxes that must be air conditioned for months at a time. Builders hail the new construction and say they “no longer need” to build houses the old way because now we have air conditioning. It seems like complete backwards logic to me. Poor planet.
As someone that keeps Chicago in the comfort zone, I’m all for building designs that put less strain on resources to keep them air conditioned. Many times we prefer cost effective design up front without regard to long term environmental resources. This trend will have to change. We are going to have to accept the long term investment in our future.
I’ve noticed too that my electrical bills are often for estimated usage instead of actual usage. I’d guess that it’s to cut down on the amount of time the meter reader comes around? But then I’m not sure how that person is able to get the readings for each of the past few months, unless it’s just cumulative.
But in this age of computers, why does a meter reader have to come around? Can’t the electric company know automatically what your usage is, just like the phone company?
http://www.servizz.gov.mt send in comments/complaints/suggestions and they should be followed up. I believe the utility company also shows a freephone number at the back of the bill for queries