– I can’t get it to go around, says Tone Linn Knutsson. She is a single mother and is already struggling to pay the electricity bill. Today she and the over 400,000 customers of the electricity company Tibber received a message in their inbox. In October, they must pay twice as much: Both for electricity consumption in September, and calculate consumption for half of October. And when the two weeks in October must now be paid in advance, consumption in those weeks will therefore not be covered by electricity subsidy until November. The message has caused a long line of customers to react. – It is quite disappointing when the bill applies from 1 October and we are notified of it two days before. Now my bill is going to be very high. – I think it is beyond and terribly short notice, says Knutsson. Double disadvantage In October, Tibber customers will therefore have a double financial disadvantage: they have to pay for six weeks instead of four weeks and only receive electricity support for four weeks. Although they will eventually receive the support they are entitled to in November, they must therefore post in the meantime. Unusual crisis action In a press release, Tibber writes that they are taking action due to high borrowing costs and that the company can no longer pay the same amount for electricity consumption to its customers. This means that Tibber is forced to switch to a new invoicing period and new payment solutions. Put another way, Tibber must use its customers as a “bank” in order to be able to buy the electricity they will offer the customers. – We fully understand that this is coming on suddenly, but ask for your understanding that we have been forced to take some measures, says PR and communications manager Gaute Haaversen-Westhassel. E24 referred to this as a crisis move on Thursday morning. On the Facebook page “We som krev billigare stram” the angry messages against Tibber pour in. Several hundred customers react and complain about the shock notice. Some are considering switching electricity companies, and find it unacceptable that customers have to pay in advance. – Why does it do this with only two days’ notice? – We have a great deal of understanding for those who react, says Haaversen-Westhassel. Tibber CEO Edgeir Vårdal Aksnes has a lot of praise for the relatively new stream company Tibber. Today, the company receives criticism from customers. Photo: Oddleif Løset / news High electricity and loan prices Tibber usually pays for electricity costs to customers for up to 45 days. The company then takes out loans to buy in and pay for electricity to customers. The current high electricity prices and borrowing costs mean that the company has to borrow more. Instead of taking a surcharge on the electricity, Tibber has chosen to invoice the customers for half a month in advance. Any corrections up or down will be made on the next invoice. – Because we have a philosophy of not making money from the electricity we sell to our customers, we have taken the steps we have now taken, says Haaversen-Westhassel. To make it easier for those who struggle to pay their electricity bill, he says that the company has made it possible to change the due date and to apply for payment postponement. Hello! Are you a Tibber customer? Then I would like to hear from you! May be illegal Knutsson from Os is still worried about how she will pay the bill. For her, the current electricity bill will have major financial consequences. – I have one income and am a single mother of two children. This month I have struggled to pay the electricity bill. The next month was going to be just as difficult, and now I also have to pay for an estimated 14 extra days. Senior adviser Thomas Iversen in the Consumer Council believes that Tibber’s crisis move seems like a creative attempt not to be defined as advance payment. – All companies must notify customers 14 days in advance when they make changes to the terms, something we cannot see being done by Tibber here, he says. Iversen advises all customers to set the due date as far in advance as possible. – The customer must not be a “bank” for the straumsal company. If the company needs security, then this should be solved in another way, and something the authorities should possibly look into. Thomas Iversen believes it would be wrong to use customers as “banks”. Will not give loan schemes In Norway’s neighboring countries, the authorities have given loans to the companies to avoid such a money squeeze as Tibber has ended up in. The government in Norway has not intervened by giving the companies a similar loan scheme. State Secretary Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (Ap) in the Ministry of Oil and Energy believes that lack of access to money is a limited problem in Norway, despite invoices falling for Tibber. – Within the current regulations, power suppliers can use both advance and arrears invoicing of electricity consumption. We are not aware of power suppliers having problems financing themselves in the private capital market, he says to news.
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Kundar rages against Tibber after demands for advance payment of electricity bills in October – news Vestland
