STELCO’s energy audit finds high bills linked to AC usage habits

The State Electric Company (STELCO) says that inspection of homes in Male’ City as part of its energy audit to uncover the cause of inexplicably high electricity bills in the capital uncovered a link between high energy bills and the use of air conditioning systems.

STELCO’s Managing Director Hussain Fahmy announced the initiation of visits to households in Male’ City and Hulhumale’ for the purposes of an energy audit on August 3.

In a press statement on Thursday, STELCO said that that visits to households in Male’ City did not uncover any inaccuracies with electricity meters.

“All meters were tested and no accuracy issue was noticed,” said the company.

The issues the company uncovered were all related to the use of ACs. They are:

• ACs set very low constantly running;
• Oversized ACs;
• Failure to switch off ACs when people go out, because they are misinformed that switching ‘on’ and ‘off’ can cause high cooling demand; and
• Outdoor unit placement issues, where units are placed in locations that lack proper ventilation.

The energy audit remains ongoing. STELCO said it has completed visits to all households in Male’ City in response to requests, except for those households whose owners where either outside Male’ or couldn’t be reached.

Meanwhile, the company has yet to make visits to some households in Hulhumale’

STELCO said it plans on adding more work this weekend and next week in order to expedite it.

The energy audit following public concern over unusually high electricity bills after April.

STELCO previously acknowledged that while there are periodic spikes in electricity bills, especially in hotter months like April or during Ramadan, the prolonged high level of energy consumption is a new development.

The company said that customers are billed based on meter readings and insists that the energy usage is high.

It also rejected claims that STELCO tampered with the power system.