Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc (EKEDC) said it has metered all maximum demand (MD) customers within its network in line with the directive of the regulatory body, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Maximum demand customers are huge electricity consumers such as industrial and some commercial concerns. Distribution companies realise substantial part of their revenues from these customers.
EKEDC Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Sam Nwaire, who disclosed this during a Town Hall meeting held recently with customers at the Agbara/ Badagry Business District Area in Lagos, said the firm has metered 6,834 MD customers within its network.
The NERC on June 11 directed all electricity distribution companies to meter the MD customers and directed all MD customers that have no meters to stop paying estimated bills.
Nwaire said the company had completed metering all its MD customers since March 31 within the stipulated time frame. He said the company had metered about 50 per cent residential customers, adding that the company will meet its five-year metering plan when all categories of customers must have been metered.
He confirmed that residential consumers were not included in the directive issued by the NERC on no meter no payment directive. According to him, the clarification was necessary because some customers claimed that NERC directed all consumers yet to be metered to stop paying electricity bills.
He said: “We are happy to report that our maximum demand customers have been provided with meters as directed by NERC and are no longer billed by estimation. While we are making concerted efforts to provide meters for all our customers, we will continue to ensure the integrity of our bills and do everything within our mandate to comply with all NERC directives.
“We, therefore, urge our non-MD customers to please avail themselves of the content of the directive and be rightly guided. Consumers should not misinterpret it to avoid paying for electricity already consumed.”
Nwaire promised that all unmetered customers would be reached within the stipulated time, noting that it was not possible for all customers to be metered at the sametime because of the huge cost involved. He urged those yet to be reached in the meter roll-out to exercise patience, adding that no customer would be left out at the end.
He also said Eko DisCo has an established billing methodology approved by the industry regulator for billing unmetered customers, based on a number of factors, which include the customers’ consumption pattern over time and availability of power supply within the particular month for which the customers were billed.
The EKEDC boss urged communities to be vigilant and guard against activities of vandals in their areas. He said the company would work with the police to ensure that the suspects and others are duly prosecuted in court.
Nwaire said the company was only able to recover N4.8 billion out of N6.3 billion owed by customers for the month of May, adding that customers are yet to pay over N1.5 billion, which was part of the electricity consumed in May 2017.
