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| Households overpay for gas |
4/4/2007 |
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2 April 2007
AMSTERDAM – Dutch households pay too much for gas because gas metres in homes are inaccurate. The metres can show a discrepancy of about 5 percent. The discrepancy can be even higher if the metre is in an area where the temperature is generally higher than 7 degree Celsius.
Professor Anton van Putten said this on Saturday after a study by his research bureau AnMar.
Minister for Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven said this was "old news." On a radio programme the Christian democrat CDA minister said that the gas companies take this into account when drawing up bills.
Nonetheless she would like further investigation. She thinks the results could play a role in the use of so-called smart metres, which will replace old-style metres in the coming years. The minister said she had made this decision even before the results of the AnMar report were published.
Van Putten says that the gas metres currently in use were developed in 1843 and never improved upon. He says that gas suppliers collect about EUR 350 million too much as a result of this outdated technology.
[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]
Subject: Dutch news
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