PNG Power Limited’s biggest problem with their customers in the country is the non-payment of their electricity bills.
Last year alone, government departments, collectively, owed PNG Power K40 million in unpaid bills.
And while PPL is coming down hard on consumers for not paying their bills, it is finding it difficult, to effect 100% shut down of power to government departments, in fear of cutting off other important public services.
Paying the electricity bill is usually not considered priority in government departments. And for private consumers, power bills are usually bills that are never settled in full.
PNG Power Limited sees this as a big problem.
Martin Bigiglen, General Manager for Operating and Maintenance with PNG Power, says it is one of the company’s biggest problems.
Mr. Bigiglen says the biggest problem in the country at the moment is that a lot of their customers like a lot of other infrastructure in the country, and it is falling apart.
Despite continuous public notices on outstanding bills, PPL now plans to resort to 100 % cut offs of power supply to consumers who are ignoring their power bills.
Surprisingly, the biggest culprits are government departments
“We have two groups of customers; major customers and domestic customers, and most of the government departments, do not pay their bills.
Last year alone, all government departments put together, owed PPL around K40 million in unpaid power bills.
By the end of last year, the government departments owed PNG Power K40 million.
All this, amounts to PPL having to deal with deteriorating infrastructure that is over 30 years old, meeting ridiculously high, annual fuel costs, and still try to provide constant, and reliable power supply to the country.
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