Henan Property Owner: Monthly Electricity Usage Nearing 2000 kWh, Afraid to Use Air Conditioning

Recently, owners in the Han Yu Tian Yue Phase 2 community in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, complained that their three-bedroom apartment was consuming nearly 2000 kWh of electricity per month, to the point where they were hesitant to even use the air conditioning.

According to a report by Henan Urban Daily, Ms. Zhang, one of the homeowners, stated, “I don’t understand why our electricity usage is so high. Our home is not a large villa or a mansion, just a normal three-bedroom apartment. Yet, we are consuming almost 2000 kWh per month, costing us over 1000 RMB in electricity bills.”

Ms. Zhang explained that the only high-power electrical appliance in their home was the air conditioning. They typically only ran one or two air conditioners at a time, kept the living room air conditioner off at night, and only used the one in the bedroom along with regular lighting. Despite these precautions, their monthly electricity usage was still close to 2000 kWh.

“I have no idea where all this electricity is going,” Ms. Zhang expressed. Prior to the property management introducing a new electricity billing system, during peak electricity usage months like July and August in previous years, the monthly bill was only a few hundred yuan.

Ms. Zhang questioned why, with the same electrical habits and meter readings, there was such a significant increase in electricity consumption after the property management took over the billing.

Another male homeowner added, “In my home with only a refrigerator and no one else there, I still end up paying over ten yuan for electricity every day.”

The electricity payment records provided by the male homeowner showed a daily deduction of over ten yuan each day.

“I am outraged! The electricity bills make me anxious!” the male homeowner exclaimed. “How much electricity can a refrigerator possibly use in a day to cost me over ten yuan daily?”

Both Ms. Zhang and the male homeowner were not alone in discovering this issue. According to Ms. Zhang, over 70 homeowners in the community were discussing how strange the situation was.

The male homeowner further questioned, “Why are we paying the electricity bills to the property management instead of directly to the power supply bureau? I don’t want to keep paying without clear explanations.”

The property manager of the community responded by stating that they do not have a tiered billing system in place. Each kilowatt-hour costs 0.568 RMB, as per the measurement unit.

As for why the electricity fees are not paid directly to the power supply bureau, the property manager clarified that the community is using a “direct supply combined meter user” system, where multiple households share one meter for measuring electricity usage, making it difficult to implement a tiered pricing system. If there are concerns about the meter readings, they are open to conducting inspections.

The property management’s explanation has sparked doubts online. Many netizens suggested checking the accuracy of the metering equipment, mentioning that the high electricity costs for just running an air conditioner or refrigerator seemed unreasonable. Some comments included sentiments like, “Is this electricity bill for a sports car?” and “There’s no way the charges can be this exaggerated with a rate of 0.568 RMB per kilowatt-hour without implementing tiered pricing.”

“Opening the central air conditioning unit all day costs me only seven to eight hundred yuan a month.” “This kind of excessive billing without tiered pricing and based on measurement units is impossible.” “Either there is electricity theft or issues with the billing system; either way, there is something fishy with this property management.” “We should form a homeowners’ committee and dismiss the property management.”