Canberra doctor fights ActewAGL over $25000 power bill - The Canberra Times

Mr Yarub Jamiel, with his latest electricity bill. Photo: Jay Cronan

THINK your home electricity bill is high?

Imagine being charged $2000 a month, disputing the bill in the legal system and losing the first part of your challenge.

That is what has happened to one Canberran whose financially expensive tale may have a happy ending for homeowners.

O'Malley resident Yarub Jamiel argued his energy provider had a conflict of interest because it checked its own meters. In doing so, he might have prompted a more independent way electricity meters are tested for their accuracy in the ACT.

Dr Jamiel, who might claim the biggest home power bill in Canberra, was charged $25,000 for what ActewAGL said was one year's worth of electricity. The first bill for six months was $17,813 while the next two quarterly bills totalled $7469.

He took his case to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal where he argued ActewAGL had a conflict of interest because it checked its own meters.

Dr Jamiel has lost part of his legal battle in relation to the $7469 figure while a decision about the $17,813 is pending.

The tribunal has ordered to him to pay the $7469 bill at the rate of $850 a month.

But in the decision made late last month, the tribunal shared Dr Jamiel's concern about the conflict of interest even though it did not accept this ''unfortunate situation invalidates the meter test undertaken''.

The tribunal said it would, however, raise its concerns with the Australian Energy Regulator to see if a more independent arrangement could be made in the territory.

''The national regulators have authorised the electricity distributor in the ACT, ActewAGL Distribution, to undertake electricity meter tests … in the ACT,'' the tribunal's decision stated.

''This contrasts with water, where tests are carried out by the Brisbane City Council on contract to Actew Corporation, and gas, where tests are carried out in an AGL facility in Melbourne.''

Dr Jamiel argued the bills were unreasonable due to the fact his largest previous quarterly bill was $600 and because he now lived in a house with a six-star energy rating, but the tribunal said he misunderstood the way electricity was billed.

Electricity bills are based on meter readings and there is no requirement - and energy companies have no right - to enter a property to prove electricity is being used efficiently, according to the tribunal.