We do not agree with such settlements. This is a state within a state – says Tomasz Łężak from Zielona Góra in an interview with the business editorial team of tvn24.pl. He received an electricity invoice for over PLN 20,000 and high forecasts for the coming months. – Someone changed the tariff – he says. Enea announces a correction of settlements.
Tomasz Łężak lives in Zielona Góra (Lubusz Voivodeship). He contacted our editorial office when he received an electricity invoice. – You faint when you see such a bill. He received over PLN 20,000 from Enea. My wife and I paid it because we didn't have time to explain the situation, even though it seemed illogical. Our son had a difficult operation then, and we had not seen the rest of the world. That's why we paid as much for electricity as they asked us to, so that they wouldn't cut off the power in our house – he says at the beginning.
However, he emphasizes: – My wife and I do not agree with such settlements. We also do not agree that a State Treasury company should be merciless towards citizens. This is a state within a state. This is unbelievable to me, he says.
“This is a disaster”
In a conversation with the business editorial team of tvn24.pl, Mr. Tomasz shows a settlement invoice for 2023 with the date of issue on March 28, 2024 for the amount of PLN 21,253.60 issued by the energy company Enea.
This is a business bill since it's such a large amount, right? – we ask Mr. Tomasz. – No, we have been living in a 100-meter new house since 2019. Everything is insulated. We also have photovoltaics, which cost us PLN 50,000. We installed fireplace heating with a water jacket and heat recovery. All activities were aimed at saving electricity bills – he explains.
He adds: – When we saw what our electricity bills looked like this year, we decided it was a disaster and we had to sell this house.
In the wake of the new settlement, another problem arose. – This large invoice resulted in astronomical forecasts for the current year, PLN 4,000 each (for two months). In the first three years (2019-2021), electricity cost us PLN 11,000. From 2022 to 2024, we have already paid PLN 27,000 (without the latest one – PLN 21,200). We have been writing complaints to Enea for several months and visiting customer service points. We tried to logically explain that it is impossible for us to have such electricity consumption. We don't make pizza every day here or have a bakery. This is an ordinary house, he emphasizes.
Different tariff in the contract, different in settlements
Tomasz Łężak presents us with documentation: contract, annex, list of invoices, forecasts and corrections, notes in the tables when and what was paid, service protocols, complaints, responses to complaints. On June 27, 2024, Enea informed Mr. Tomasz that “We have analyzed the issued settlements and found the complaint to be unfounded.”
– It didn't calm us down. My wife and I started looking through the documents, then I asked Enea for all the service reports. We see, someone has changed the tariff. The meter operates in the G11 tariff, even though we have a signed contract for G12 – says our interlocutor.
On the Enea website it informs that in the case of the G11 tariff, prices are the same 24 hours a day and you can choose this option if “you do not use electric heating”. The description of the G12 tariff includes information that “it is a practical solution divided into two time zones: cheaper and more expensive”. It can be selected when you “use electric heating”.
– We have electric heating. Following my interventions, the reports show that service work was carried out on the meter. The July document already shows the G12 tariff, but without any feedback to us. Did they realize that something was wrong and secretly want to fix it? After all, there are doubts about this: on what basis are bills issued from 2019? How do we know what energy consumption we should pay for, if the G11 tariff has a fixed price 24 hours a day, and we had a contract for a variable price, depending on the time of day – wonders Mr. Tomasz.
And the key doubt with such high bills: what was the prosumer settlement for photovoltaics like?
Our interlocutor also points to the issue of corrections to previous invoices. – We received several corrections, I will mention two. In July this year we have a correction of over PLN 6,000, and later a correction of PLN 3,000. What is it about? Enea is undergoing verification, but it doesn't calm me down at all, because I don't know on what basis I should pay for electricity. I would like to pay for what we actually consumed. I don't trust these current settlements – he reserves.
The energy company responds
The tvn24.pl editorial team contacted the energy company Enea regarding this matter.
“After a thorough analysis, it was determined that when changing the contract related to the installation of micro-installations, the tariff group was incorrectly assigned. From that moment, settlements were carried out taking into account the G11 tariff, instead of the G12 tariff. We apologize to our client for the situation,” Berenika Ratajczak told us , Enea's spokeswoman.
She added that “we are currently preparing invoice corrections that will include the correct settlement. The client will be informed about the actions we have taken and will soon receive the correct settlement in separate correspondence.”
The energy company calculated the overpayment for Mr. Tomasz at under PLN 40,000. zloty. At the same time, discussions are ongoing about the still high forecasts for electricity consumption.
Want to share an important topic? Contact the author of the text: joanna.rubin@wbd.com
Main photo source: TVN24