P1.4-million electricity bill shocks consumer in Pangasinan

A family in Pangasinan was shocked to see that their electricity bill has reached P1.4 million.

In a report by GMA Regional TV "One North Central Luzon," Menchie Marayag Antonio said that from their average monthly bill of around P1,500, they now to pay P1,472,973.

"Siyempre iyong reaction ko unang-una, sobrang kinabahan din ako gawa ng, siyempre, ordinaryong tao lang po kami tapos biglang ganoon iyong makikita mo," she said.

"Nagulat din po ako. Nagtaka ako kasi parang ang dami niyang numbers. Tapos ayun nga po, P1.4 million nga po," she added.

Antonio immediately went to the Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative (CENPELCO) office to complain about the billing.

CENPELCO clarified that there an error in the meter reading.  It apologized to the family and said it would conduct another reading to update the family's electric bill.

"Hindi napansin siguro o hindi na-prompt 'yung meter reader natin na nagkaroon ng [error] doon sa pag-input niya ng number. Nagkaroon ng pagkakamali, sigurado iyon," CENPELCO general manager Rod Corpuz said.

However, according to Antonio's recent post, she discovered that the meter reading went wrong again.

Antonio appealed to CENPELCO to fix the reading and billing before distributing the bill to consumers.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA News