β-phase vanadate bronzes β-A0.33V2O5 (A=Na, Li, Ag, Ca, Sr, etc.) have recently attracted much attention because of their conjectured metal-insulator (MI) phase transition associated with charge ordering (CO).2-5) The transition temperature TCO ranges from 90K for A=Ag to 180K for A=Li.1-3) Because three crystallographically inequivalent V sites are involved in the structure and drastic change in the valence state of V ions has been observed at the phase transition, 5) the question one has to ask first is: where are the electrons at T > TCO and at which sites do the electrons localize below TCO? The band structure calculations will provide useful information on this issue but they are unavailable at present. In this Short Note, we therefore adopt the ionic model and calculate the Madelung energy of the system for various electron configurations to gain some insight into the stable electron configurations. Below, we will show that the V1 position (zigzag chain sites of VO6 octahedra) is the lowest in energy for the electrons to be located, the V2 position (ladder sites of VO6 octahedra) is the next lowest, and the V3 position (zigzag chain sites of VO5 pyramids) is the highest in energy. Implication of the results will be discussed. The crystal structure of the β-phase compounds has a characteristic V2O5 framework consisting of three kinds of infinite chain along the crystallographic b-axis (see Fig. 1 of refs. 2 and 3). The V1 sites form a zigzag chain of edge-shared VO6 octahedra, and the V2 sites form a two-leg ladder of corner-shared VO6 octahedra. The V1 chain and V2 ladder share the edges of the VO6 octahedra. The V3 sites form a zigzag chain of edgeshared VO5 pyramids, which bridges the V1 chain and V2 ladder. The average valence of V ions β-A1/3V2O5 is V(5−1/6)+ when A=monovalent cations (i.e., there is one d-electron per six V-ions), and V(5−1/3)+ when A=divalent cations (i.e., is one d-electron per three V-ions). Quasi-one-dimensional (1D) metallic conduction along the b-axis at T > Tc and the MI plus CO phase transition at TCO have been confirmed in the single crystal of β-Na0.33V2O5. 2, 5) At low temperatures (T 50K), the antiferromagnetic (AF) long-range order occurs in A=Na and Ag, while in A=Ca and Sr, the