•Integrity as well as consumer protection issues here should be tackled
IF the claim by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that some electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) are installing substandard meters for electricity consumers is true, then the regulatory agencies in the power sector have their jobs cut out for them. They should move swiftly to identify the culprit DISCOs as well as take appropriate disciplinary actions against them.
According to a report by the TCN: “It has come to our attention at the market operations that some DISCOs are increasingly getting involved in the installation of non-compliant meters. We intend to notify the commission (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission) of these defaulting DISCOs before appropriate sanctions are applied.” This is serious and it confirms the widespread belief among Nigerians that the DISCOs, ab initio, did not intend to bill electricity consumers for power consumed but rather make them pay bills according to their (DISCOs’) own whims and caprices.
Before now, many consumers have been complaining that the meters provided by their DISCOs are substandard. They say the meters run faster than normal. President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Chijioke James, confirmed the allegation. “I’d raised this issue of non-compliant meters that are reading too fast in the past because many power users complained about this issue. It is important to state here that consumers pay for meters because they are tired of excuses. This is why they give the distribution companies loans in advance through the purchase of these meters.
“But this has caused double jeopardy for the Nigerian consumers because so many people have paid for meters and up until now, they have not been metered. Some of those who have been metered complain that the meters are of low quality and are reading too fast.”
The DISCOs have, expectedly, denied the allegation. But the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) should not be satisfied with this. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. Even the umbrella body of the DISCOs, the Association of National Electricity Distributors (ANED), neither denied nor confirmed the allegation. Rather, its Executive Director, Research and Advocacy , Sunday Oduntan, merely asked that the DISCOs involved should be named and that since this was not done, he would not react to such generalised statement.
We agree with him, even though our hearts are with the hapless Nigerians that are at the receiving end of such an unfair deal. They are power-hungry and are given a little power, yet made to pay bills that are far higher than their power consumption because the DISCOs prefer to slam them with estimated bills rather than facilitate processes to make them get prepaid meters. Even people who want to escape the hell that ‘crazy or estimated bills’ represent by applying for the meters do not get them months after payment. Naturally, this gives room for suspicion that the DISCOs prefer to continue with estimated billing rather than actual electricity consumption. There is no reason not to believe that DISCOs notorious for this unfair billing cannot play some funny games to cheat their customers.
We are disappointed that the TCN is speaking in muffled tones on this matter. Yet, this is not the first time that DISCOs would be accused of installing substandard meters. We wonder why the TCN cannot name and be damned. Unfortunately, this is the way of many public servants in the country; they shy away from naming and shaming when making serious allegations. It is bad that some electricity consumers bypass meters, with the intention of paying less for electricity consumed. But it is worse when power firms get involved in fraudulent practices more or less as a corporate policy. This is corporate stealing that should have no place in the business sector.
So, if neither the TCN nor NERC is ready to name the DISCOs involved in the installation of substandard meters, then they had better hold their peace. The same goes for other public servants who whet the appetite of Nigerians with wide allegations that they end up not substantiating, or fail to name those involved.