Fri, 17 Nov 2023
Several households on the Isle of Man told Energy FM that they have struggled or not be able to get in contact with Isle of Man Energy (formerly Manx Gas).
The individuals want to discuss payment plans and/or payment options. Many have also received letters from Isle of Man Energy informing them they’d be cut off in 7 days unless bills were paid.
A spokesperson for Isle of Man Energy has said:
“We are not experiencing any delays into our customer services teams. Our dedicated teams are based in the IOM and Glasgow and there are no delays. Customers can expect a wait time of approximately 2 minutes depending on the day and time that they call.
Customers should contact us on 01624 644444 if they need to discuss anything to do with their bill or want to discuss a payment plan, email us at hello@i-e-g.com or payments can be made on our website here: Pay your Isle of Man Energy bill."
Along with the current issues people are having with Isle of Man Energy, the terms ‘standing charge’ and ‘tariffs’ are getting thrown around quite a bit.
Isle of Man Energy have explained them:
“The cost of supplying gas is made up of two main parts, firstly, the cost of buying and transporting the gas itself and secondly the cost of providing the gas networks to supply that gas. Isle of Man Energy owns and operates the gas networks on the Island. The Isle of Man Government (through Manx Utilities) own and operate the cross-Island transmission pipeline, Isle of Man Energy pays a transportation charge to transport gas through this pipeline to its wholly owned networks.
“The standing charge makes a contribution towards the cost of operating and maintaining the gas networks and providing a 24 hour a day gas emergency service. Standing charges are published as part of our tariffs and vary depending on the tariff used. We offer a range of tariffs depending on how much energy is consumed. As an example, a typical central heating customer on the All Island Tariff has a standing charge of 16.9 pence per day whilst our low user tariff has no standing charge applied.”
It advices to anyone struggling with their bills is to get in touch and that they may be eligible for its Priority Customer Care service, or they might want to find out about how they can apply to one of the debt relief charities it supports in the Isle of Man.
It has also released a statement on its website regarding debt recovery, where it says it has "agreed revised payment plans for over half of the customers that have received a disconnection notice and contacted" them.