Consumers given grace period to register with PNG Power

By PETER ESILA
AN amnesty period has been given to power consumers to register with PNG Power Ltd (PPL) for proper power connections.
PPL chief executive officer Obed Batia yesterday said there would not be any penalty fees if they registered their issues during this period ending on Aug 31.
He said after Aug 31, PPL would be launching an external reward programme during which the general public would be offered incentives for reporting illegal power connections.
“Customers caught stealing power outside of the amnesty period will be prosecuted and all penalty fees to be charged accordingly,” he said.
“PNG Power has developed a revenue protection strategy (short, medium and long term) as part of its three-year corporate plan aimed at combatting revenue leakages, maintaining existing revenue and see a growth in revenue through more new customer connections.
“PNG Power and USAID-PEP (PNG Electrification Partnership) partners have determined that an estimated 100,000-plus customers are currently consuming power without a PNG Power meter hence not registered as customers.
“Through this USAID-PEP, PNG Power is announcing this amnesty initiative as one of the revenue protection strategies.
“This amnesty programme is phase two of a pilot project done during the first quarter of 2022, during which over 900 customers have been assisted.
“The phase two is focused at calling all unregistered electricity consumers connected to the PNG Power grid without a meter, to come forward and register as new customers at their nearest PNG Power office or call our toll-free number 116.
“There are no penalty fees, back bills and service fees during the amnesty period. Registration is free of charge,” Batia said.
He said when customers had registered with PNG Power, a unique identification number would be allocated and a minimum fixed monthly energy bill of K30, K40 or K50 would be payable by the customer depending on the categories: small house (1 to 2 bedrooms) – K30 per month; medium house (3 to 4 bedrooms) – K40 per month; and, large house (more than 5 bedrooms) – K50 per month.
“This process will help PNG Power register power users into the billing system and the appropriate customer meters will be installed accordingly, this information will also assist PNG Power in generating the right amount of energy and avoid low voltage issues.”
Batia invited all unregistered customers throughout the country to come forward and register during this amnesty period.