Electricity Upgrade

Over the winter, we found that when we had a lot of equipment on, such as when we were cooking and also had the heating, hot water and dishwasher on, the main fuse might blow. We read in one of the recent emails that you could get the fuse uprated.

Initially we went to where there used to be an electricity shop in Ayamonte, but apparently this closed down a few months ago. They very helpfully advised that we should ring the call centre number on the Endesa bill.

We rang them on a Wednesday and started out to discuss it in Spanish, but after a while (and some confusion) the call centre asked if we wanted an English speaking assistant (to which we said yes!). He was very helpful and explained that when it had been built, our apartment had been rated at 9 Kwh. We currently had 5.5 Kwh. He could increase the rating to 6.6, 7.7 or 8.8 for a once-off charge of 95E. The standing charge would go up because it would be multipled by 8.8 instead of (in our case) 5.5 (have a look at the top line of your bill to understand - there are 2 other lines in the bill which go up as a result). This amounted to around 5/6E per month. The unit charge doesn't change.

Anyway he committed to have someone with us within a week (by the following Wednesday) to review what was required. In fact, the engineer arrived within 2 days on the Friday and did it there and then. Magic!

Alternatively, one can visit the Endesa office in Isla Cristina. The key challenge is to find the office, which is thought to be in Calle Emiliano Cabot near the covered market. The office is small and situated obscurely on the ground floor of a block of flats. No English is spoken there but if you turn up with your bill it will probably be OK. Upgrade was very efficient and took around 6-7 days to take effect. Whilst its unlikely anyone will require upgrading prior to Winter, an owner who went to Endesa is out in the last few weeks of September and is willing to help. Please ask for help via Contact.