The legal obligation on behalf of the Electricity Providers in Spain to instal ‘current limiters’ (or ICP – Interruptor de Control de Potencia) is causing concern for many consumers.

Endesa (and all other electricity providers) are currently writing to all consumers for whom they have no record of an ICP ever being fitted. Failure to repsond to the initial letter (recorded delivery!) results in a second letter giving 20 days to respond before penalties are applied! See my earlier post Letter from Endesa Re: ICP for more information.

For many consumers, especially those who were very badly advised at time of property purchase to simply ‘inherit’ the electricity contract from the previous owner’s grandfather(!?), these people now require major works to upgrade their electricity supply.

Q. Why you ask?

Read on to find out …

Well, if your contract is old it is unlikely that your ‘potencia contratada’ (energy rating in KW’s) is sufficient to support all the electrical appliances in your home. Therefore simply fitting the ICP as instructed by Endesa will cause a lot of inconvenience, as it will trip OFF at frequent intervals. In order to upgrade your potencia, odds on, Endesa will require a new Boletín, hence the requirement for works to upgrade your electricity supply.

On top of these problems, consumer watchdog FACUA is investigating cases where consumers are already paying penalties for not having an ICP installed, while awaiting installation of an ICP by their supply company! FACUA also question the requiremnt for an ICP as all the electricity providers in Spain are embarking on a rolling programme to replace all electricity meters by 2018 with digital meters with in-built power limiters. See the Costa Del Sol News for their recent Trip Switch Outrage headline!

For the Spanish speaking amongst you, see the FACUA website for more information.

8 September 2010