THE Visayan Electric Company will offer reprieves through payment arrangements to its customers who have already received their billing statements months after the devastation of Typhoon Odette (Rai), a company official said on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.Engineer Daryl Bonbon, assistant vice president for Customer Services Group, added that the due dates of the latest bills received by its customers would also be extended by 30 days to avoid any disconnection.Customers who wish to avail themselves of arrangements for staggered payments should visit any of their branches and present valid identification cards or any proof of account ownership, said Bonbon during a press briefing held at the private electric utility’s office in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.Since many customers aired their complaints on the amount needed to be settled, Bonbon also took the time to explain the reason behind the sudden increase in the customers’ bills.Bonbon said this is because after Dec. 16, 2021 until the month of January 2022, Visayan Electric did not conduct meter reading, only resuming this in February.This caused some customers to have a “lump billing” or accumulation of the bills during the days in January when electricity had been restored until February, he said.“Odette” struck Cebu last Dec. 16, causing a province-wide blackout after its winds knocked down power lines.Visayan Electric also clarified that the outrageous bill of a certain customer that reached over P800,000 was due to an error in meter reading and encoding.Bonbon said they had already coordinated with the customer.They said this was an isolated case only.However, Bonbon encouraged customers to coordinate with them if they see that something is not right with their bills.No added chargesBonbon also denied accusations that Visayan Electric is charging its customers more than the usual to cover the expenses brought by the recent typhoon.He said what is reflected in the customer’s bill are the actual charges of the services of Visayan Electric. It does not include any additional charges for the damage the typhoon brought on the company’s facilities.Meanwhile, Visayan Electric’s president Raul Lucero also reported that as of March 1, some 98.88 percent of its service area has already been fully energized.Lucero said the remaining customers still without power are located in remote communities that would require electric posts to be carried by its personnel since it is impossible for their heavy equipment to enter.However, Lucero is hopeful that by March 15, all of its customers will be fully energized.