Supplying free electricity to Enemalta

I have to admit that I was somewhat tolerant of all the bureaucracy involved in the installation and connection of photovoltaic panels to the national power grid, especially thanks to the support received from the retailer from whom I bought the panels. They have handled pretty much all the paperwork and only involved me where necessary.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was my experience with Enemalta. When applying at the customer care office to hand in my application together with a fee for the feed-in meter in advance, I was first sent back to the Malta Resources Authority to pick up a missing sheet that apparently was not photocopied and attached to my application. The MRA kindly produced the missing sheet immediately, while apologetically explaining that the sheet being requested only included some background info and a checklist – completely unnecessary for Enemalta to have. Apparently I was not the first one to be sent back to MRA for this trifle. When I returned to Enemalta, I was given a handwritten receipt, together with a very well-mannered explanation of industrial action in place. In a nutshell, it meant I will only be receiving a proper receipt by mail once the industrial action is complete and then maybe, eventually, I will be getting a feed-in meter.

The net effect of this whole thing is that my panels are producing electricity and feeding it back into the grid – unmetered and free – while I’m paying for my electricity consumption.

In conclusion, I’m switching off my PV panels and invite everybody else whose feed-in meter has been caught up in this industrial action to follow my example, until the feed-in meter is installed.