{"id":254481,"date":"2025-10-18T11:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T15:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=254481"},"modified":"2025-10-18T11:49:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T15:49:19","slug":"apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n

APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is investigating reports that several major commercial customers, including supermarkets, have been paying electricity bills lower than those of ordinary households, a government spokesperson confirmed on Friday.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Director-General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet was told that \u201csome large businesses are paying electricity bills that some households are paying,\u201d describing the discovery as a clear indication that \u201csomething irregular is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that APUA has begun installing new tamper-proof metering systems to prevent manipulation of the utility\u2019s equipment and ensure accurate readings. <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe minister indicated that APUA is currently working towards installing particular systems that will prevent any tampering of its equipment,\u201d Merchant said during the post-Cabinet media briefing.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The initiative follows earlier findings by the Ministry of Utilities that certain companies were under-reporting their electricity usage, depriving the authority of expected revenue. Merchant said the upgrade of meters is intended not only to stop the irregularities but also to recover lost income. \u201cI think that is all part of the plan,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No names or numbers were disclosed, but officials said the situation had become \u201can eye-opener\u201d for the Cabinet, which has called for tighter oversight of commercial energy consumption.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The new meters are expected to form part of a broader effort to modernize APUA\u2019s billing and monitoring systems as the government moves to improve transparency and reduce revenue leakages across state agencies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is investigating reports that several major commercial customers, including supermarkets, have been paying electricity bills lower than those of ordinary households, a government spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Director-General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet was told that \u201csome large businesses are paying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAPUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is investigating reports that several major commercial customers, including supermarkets, have been paying electricity bills lower than those of ordinary households, a government spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Director-General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet was told that \u201csome large businesses are paying […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":13,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\",\"name\":\"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Electricity probe\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses","og_description":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) is investigating reports that several major commercial customers, including supermarkets, have been paying electricity bills lower than those of ordinary households, a government spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Director-General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet was told that \u201csome large businesses are paying […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png","width":696,"height":696,"type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses","datePublished":"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/"},"wordCount":248,"commentCount":13,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/","name":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png","datePublished":"2025-10-18T15:49:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-18T15:49:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-17-2025-09_14_07-PM.png","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Electricity probe"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/apua-probes-electricity-under-billing-by-major-businesses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"APUA Probes Electricity Under-Billing by Major Businesses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254482,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254481\/revisions\/254482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/254483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}