The General Manager of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C), Tologata Tile Tuimaleali'ifano, has confirmed that meter tampering was found during a survey by E.P.C. this year.
But survey figures show that only a small number of people are involved, at less than one per cent of consumers. According to Tologata, out of 22,017 consumers visited, 232 were suspected of meter tampering and 71 were confirmed.
His comments were sought after the tabling of an annual report for the 2010-2011 financial year showed losses of $10 million tala. Tologata denied that E.P.C. was gifting power to some people, saying they were not giving out any free electricity to anybody at all.
“This report tabled in parliament was for 2010/2011 which is out of date,” he said.
“Yes, E.P.C. carried out a door to door survey of all its consumers on the island of Upolu.”
He said that the survey is part of E.P.C.’s strategy to address system losses.
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“This is an ongoing task,” he said.
However, he also said that the door to door survey they had this year was something that they rarely did.
“We have an abnormal consumption list automatically generated from our system and we visit these suspected consumers to check why their consumption is abnormal”, he said.
“This is where we try to find where our losses come from by surveying these families and finding out why they have consumed less power”.
“We do not normally do a door to door inspection of the entire system but we have to do it if a need arises.”
Meter tampering was happening to both prepayment meters and readable meters where consumers bypass the meter or tap their power supply before the meter, said Mr.Tologata.
At the moment, Mr. Tologata says that there is no penalty on the families that were caught however; they have to pay a meter tampering reconnection fee of $1,000 for single phase power and $3,000 for three phase consumers.
Plus they must also pay an amount decided under a loss of revenue assessment.
“All meter tampering cases are referred to the Police Department for further investigation and prosecution”, said Mr. Tologata. Just last year, E.P.C. conducted an investigation due to their technical losses.
“This is not the first time this has taken place”, said Tologata. He said that E.P.C. is trying their best to put a stop to meter tampering through permanent disconnection until the reconnection fee is paid.
“Consumers need to go through the complete process like applying for a new connection to ensure that the house is safe and pay all fees and arrears before they can be reconnected again”, said Mr. Tologata. For those who tamper with their meters, Mr. Tologata said that they have to own up and tell who actually tampered with the meter before E.P.C. can reconnect them.
“Consumers are advised to think twice before they tamper with meters because life will not be easy for them”, advised Mr. Tologata.
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