• The National Electric Power Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía - CNE), defined a new electric power billing system that refunds in respect to the concept of smart metering, to be applied beginning August 1^st, 2019 for all customers with regulated billing.
• The credit corresponding to the total billed for the concept of smart metering between September, 2018 and last July, shall take place through a single payment starting September 1^st included in the electric power bill.  This will be reflected in the electricity bill under the term “Electric power bill refund for smart metering system”.

Santiago, August 9^th, 2019 – Abiding by the instructions issued by the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC), and in accordance with the new electric power bills criteria drawn by the Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE) –following the announcement by the Ministerio de Energía on April 29^th - Enel Distribución informs as to the refund mechanism and deadlines for the concept of smart metering.

This refund corresponds to the total amounts incorporated into the electric power bill regulation for covering the costs associated to the Sistema Integral de Medición, Monitoreo y Control, starting September 28^th, 2018. The Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE) calculated a new electric power bill excluding the smart metering concept of the electric power price and that will be applied beginning August to all customers with regulated power bills. The amounts of the refund were calculated in function of this new electric power bill including the readjustments corresponding to interests.

The refund that will be applied retroactively corresponds to that billed between September, 2018 and July, 2019.  The credit in the electric power bill of the 1.9 million Enel Distribución customers shall be carried out in one single installment, which shall be reflected in the power bills starting September 1^st and will be identifiable through the entry “Electric power bill refund for smart metering system”.  

For an average Enel Distribución residential customer, equivalent to a monthly power consumption of 200 kWh (BT1 Tariff, July 2019), the difference between one monthly refund, when excluding the smart metering component in the power bill, will be around $113.  Considering that this is a retroactive measure, applying between September 2018, and July 2019, the value to be refunded adds up to approximately $961 plus interest, a figure that may vary according to the consumption by the customers and that will be refunded in accordance with the invoicing cycles of each customer.

For each customer, the refund will depend upon their power consumption level during the September 2018 – July 2019 period.  The higher the power consumption, the higher the refund, since this customer paid out more during this period.

Refund example for average power consumptions by typical customers

Note: Approximate values: amounts will vary according the power consumption level of each customer.

On the other hand, as announced by the Ministerio de Energía on April 29^th, the situation turns back to the conditions prior to the incorporation of the cost of smart metering in the electric power bills.  In this way, the bills for renting are reinstated for those who were paying rent until September 2018, date in which it was included in the power bills. This charge which will be applied starting September 1^st, is the same as that stated for a conventional electronic meter by Decree 13T of the Services Associated to Electric Power Distribution, published in the official gazette on Tuesday, July 24^th, 2018, equivalent to $268.3 monthly.

All customers having smart metering shall be benefitted by the advantages of this technology, such as remote reading, possibility of supply replenishment in less than 10 minutes on average, detailed access to the power consumptions of their property, measurement of the electric power injected into the network in the case that they have PV panels, among others.

Enel Distribución services 33 counties in the Metropolitan Region

Enel Distribución is the main electric power distributor in the country, including more than 1.9 million customers.  The area of its concession is 2,037 km², encompassing 33 districts located exclusively in the Metropolitan Region: Cerrillos, Cerro Navia, Conchalí, Estación Central, Independencia, La Cisterna, La Florida, La Granja, La Reina, Las Condes, Lo Espejo, Lo Prado, Macul, Maipú, Ñuñoa, Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Peñalolén, Pudahuel, Quinta Normal, Recoleta, Renca, San Joaquín, San Miguel, San Ramón, Vitacura, Santiago, Providencia, Huechuraba, Quilicura, Lo Barnechea, Colina, Lampa, and Til Til.