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- The FECAM (Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities) will coordinate the town councils of the Canary Islands wishing to sign this agreement.
- The agreement, which will be open to 88 town councils, has been designed to cover the minimum energy requirements of eligible vulnerable and financially disadvantaged families, combining payment deadline facilities with municipal assistance.
Pablo Casado, Endesa’s regional director in the Canary Islands and Manuel Ramón Plasencia, president of the Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities (FECAM), have signed an agreement designed to coordinate the assistance provided by town councils to cover the minimum energy needs of financially and socially vulnerable families. The agreement was signed in the FECAM headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the act was also attended by Endesa’s Sales director, José Antonio Lucendo.
The current economic situation has made it extremely difficult for many families to cover their electricity costs, among others. The agreement establishes that up to 88 town councils, once they have voluntarily signed this document and via Social Services, will carry out an assessment of consumers in their municipalities that may be eligible for the assistance referred to in this agreement and they shall provide Endesa with this information, with the aim of speeding up and facilitating the payment of this energy assistance for debts generated in relation to electricity consumption.
Endesa, in turn, undertakes to collaborate with the town councils, providing them with late payment facilities, in order to prevent the electricity supply from being interrupted, which will not entail any interests or commissions. This procedure will therefore ensure that Endesa does not interrupt the electricity supply once the notification has been received from the Social Services department from the relevant town council.
Endesa also undertakes to inform and provide advice for local corporations and their personnel with regard to the eligibility requirements for the Social Rate and the terms and conditions thereof; to provide the average consumption table in order to assess each case; and to provide informative lectures that will contribute towards a better understanding of the main aspects of the e-billing system and to improve the consumption habits of consumers.
A monitoring committee will also be established as part of the agreement, made up of technicians from Endesa and the FECAM, guaranteeing the protection of the personal data of those receiving the assistance included in this agreement at all times.
Agreements signed to combat energy poverty
Endesa is aware of the serious problem of energy poverty in many Spanish households and it is precisely because of the company’s commitment to its customers that it believes it should contribute towards providing a solution for an important issue related to its business. Accordingly, the Company has signed agreements with different town councils and public entities to prevent vulnerable families from having their electricity supply cut off.
Since initial collaborations at the end of 2013, 90 agreements were signed covering over 3.6 million households, out of this agreement sign with the FECAM. Endesa plans to strengthen and extend these initiatives which to date, have enabled approximately 30,000 bills to be processed. Furthermore, Endesa contributes around 100 million euros to maintaining the Social Rate which helped approximately 983,000 customers during 2014.
In Spain the Social Rate is a tariff with a discount established by the Government aimed at protecting low-income households. This discount is applied automatically to customers with supply contracts under 3 kW, pensioners, large families or households where all the members of working age are unemployed.