An Empty House — Do You Still Pay for Electricity? the meter-keeping fee, explained
House shut up, nobody flipping a switch — so why does a bill still arrive every month? How much, what the meter-keeping fee actually is, and whether a long absence is better handled by suspending supply or cancelling the meter — answered with the utilities' official service-charge rates. No guessed numbers.
Yes, you still pay even at 0 units, as long as the meter is still "connected" to the utility — because the bill carries a monthly service charge, a fixed amount unrelated to usage: residential Type 1.1 = 8.19 THB/mo and Type 1.2 = 24.62 THB/mo (ERC official rate, identical at MEA and PEA), plus 7% VAT. This is exactly what people call the "meter-keeping fee". The Ft is charged per unit, so at 0 units it is 0. To stop paying this every month there are two official routes: request a temporary supply suspension (paused, resumable later) or cancel the meter and reclaim the deposit — details below.
A vacant house using no electricity — is there still a bill to pay?
How much is the meter-keeping / monthly service charge on an empty house?
| Line item | Home Type 1.1 | Home Type 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly service charge | 8.19 THB | 24.62 THB |
| Energy charge (0 units) | 0 THB | 0 THB |
| Ft (charged per unit) | 0 THB | 0 THB |
| 7% VAT | +7% VAT | +7% VAT |
| Approx. total / month | ~8.76 THB | ~26.34 THB |
Important: "meter-keeping fee" (ค่ารักษามิเตอร์) is a colloquial name — an ordinary residential bill prints "service charge" (ค่าบริการ), not "ค่ารักษามิเตอร์". If your bill literally shows "ค่ารักษามิเตอร์", it is usually a temporary meter or a different user type on a different rate — confirm the actual figure for your user type at MEA 1130 / PEA 1129 (we do not print numbers the utilities have not published).
How do you stop the monthly charge? Suspend supply vs cancel the meter
Option A — temporary supply suspension
Both MEA and PEA run a "suspend / resume electricity use" service that pauses supply temporarily without closing the account; when you move back, request a resume. It fits a second home, an up-country house, or a long trip abroad — the fee and conditions (including whether anything is still billed while suspended) must be confirmed with your local office first, as the utilities publish no fixed public figure. Call MEA 1130 / PEA 1129, or use the app.
Option B — cancel the meter + reclaim the deposit
For a permanent end of use, cancelling the meter stops the monthly service charge completely, and any security deposit you once paid can be reclaimed (PEA standard: refunded within 20 working days / MEA: PromptPay transfer in 5 days). The steps, documents, arrears deduction and the deceased-owner / name-mismatch cases are all on the cancel meter & reclaim deposit page.
How to choose: returning within a few months to a year → a temporary suspension is usually better value (no re-applying for a meter later); definitely not coming back → cancelling is cleaner. Note that simply letting the service charge sit unpaid lets it accumulate and enter the overdue/disconnection process (overdue & disconnection rules).
Stop the bill on an empty house — 4 steps
In the order you should actually do it, so the service charge stops running for nothing.
Confirm the bill is only the service charge
Open MEA Smart Life / PEA Smart Plus and check that usage is 0 and the remaining amount is service charge + VAT. If units are still moving in an empty house, first work through the leak / abnormal-bill check.
Decide: suspend or cancel
Coming back before long → request a temporary suspension; ending use permanently (sell/demolish/close) → cancel the meter and reclaim the deposit.
Prepare documents matching the account name
Have the ID of the person named on the electricity account + the CA (account) number, and the deposit receipt if any. If the meter is not in your name, you may first need to transfer the name or use a power of attorney.
File via app/office, keep the proof
File through the app or at your local utility office, ask about the fee/conditions on the same call, and keep proof of the filing date. MEA 1130 (24 h) / PEA 1129.
This page answers "an empty house still has a service charge" — cancelling / name change live elsewhere
Who wrote this page
Compiled by the CapSolar team, a commercial solar provider in Thailand, and reviewed by Frank Lee (Founder). The monthly service-charge figures cite the utilities' official rate (ERC resolution 51/2565), whose accessibility we verified as of Aug 2026. Where the utilities publish no figure (e.g. the suspend/resume fee), we say so plainly and route you to the hotline — nothing here is invented.
FAQ
Keep reading
Cancel Meter & Reclaim Deposit
Permanent end of use: remove the meter + when the deposit returns.
Home Electricity Rate
Service charge, tiered energy, Ft, VAT — the full bill structure.
Electricity Name Transfer
Meter not in your name — sort it before you suspend/cancel.
Overdue & Disconnection
What happens if it sits unpaid — notice and cut-off.
Paying too much on a home or building still in use?
For buildings and factories that really use power, solar cuts the bill at its source — CapSolar assesses free of charge, no obligation.