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Tag: Discos

  • Reps Pass Bill Criminalizing Estimated Billing by Discos

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    …House empty as eighteen lawmakers hold plenary

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill criminalizing estimated billing by distribution companies in the power sector who supply electricity to individualsls and companies at outrageous costs.

    The bill was entitled: ‘A bill for an Act to Amend the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 to Prohibit and Criminalize Estimated Billing by Electicity Distribution Companies and Provide forfor Compulsory Installation of Pre-paid meters to all Power Consumers in Nigeria, and for Related Matters’.

    When assented to by the President, the bill will make the issuance of estimated bills by power distribution companies a criminal offence in Nigeria.

    It has become a recurring practice in Nigeria for power sector players particularly the distribution companies to give their customers estimated bills for power used at residential buildings and factories.

    But the bill recently passed by the House sponsored by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has elaborate provisions of penalties for such unwarranted estimated bills by these distribution companies operating in the power sector.

    Meanwhile, the House sat almost empty as only eighteen lawmakers were seen seated at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday due to the ongoing electioneering campaign by various political parties contesting the 2019 general elections.

    The plenary session which was presided by the Deputy Speaker Hon.Yusuff Lasun had started at about 11.35 am.

     

     

  • Power distribution: We’ll no longer accept excuses from you – FG tells DisCos

    Power distribution: We’ll no longer accept excuses from you – FG tells DisCos

    The federal government would no longer accept excuses from Electricity Distribution companies for failure to distribute power to consumers.

    Minister of State I for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Shehuri, who gave the warning on Monday during an inspection of a 132 KVA Transmission Substation in Uyo, expressed dissatisfaction over the inability of DisCos to distribute available power to consumers.

    “Their excuses of not taking power from transmission stations will no longer be acceptable.

    “They are expected to abide by the electricity sector roadmap from the day they took over the distribution network,” he said.

    He said that the federal government had succeeded in improving power generation and transmission but lamented that distribution was the weak link in the system.

    “Generation capacity has improved, transmission has improved but the distribution companies are not taking power from the transmission company,” he said.

    The minister said that the federal government had come up with a lot of policies to strengthen power distribution in the country.

    He said the essence of privatisation was to strengthen the system, adding that investors were expected to use their money to provide transformers and other facilities to strengthen the network.

    “They are expected to enumerate and metre all their consumers as well as strengthen the network by providing transformers and other facilities.

    “Government is still intervening in the distribution system and that is why we initiated the Eligible Costumers Policy to allow consumers to take power directly from the TCN.

    “All these are being put in place because of failures we have been facing but definitely something has to be done.

    “It is either they sit up or they pave way for more competent investors to take over,” he added.

    Solomon Uyouko, General Manager, Port Harcourt Region of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, said the Uyo substation had capacity to deliver 144 megawatt of electricity.

    He said the substation had enough power to serve Uyo and its environs but noted that the challenge was that the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company was not picking the power.

    “If the power is being distributed as expected, we will be having nothing less than 20 hours of supply to Uyo and environs daily,” he said.

     

  • PHCN: Electricity investors declare loss, 5 years after privatisation

    About five years after investors put $1.2 billion (about N427bn) to acquire 60 per cent stakes in 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in 2013, they say they are yet to recover the investments or make profit.

    The investors disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at a joint briefing by the Association of Electricity Distributors and Investors and the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED).

    The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy at ANED, Chief Sunday Oduntan said, “DisCo investors, who paid $1.4bn (about N427bn) for the distribution assets have not made any return on their investments, a condition which was the basis of the investment after a five-year performance period.”

    He revealed a N1.3 trillion market shortfall in the DisCos’ financial books that hindered their performance on improved metering, customer service and increased customer connections.

    The DisCos’ operators also decried wrong investments by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in cities instead of unconnected rural areas using the $350m World Bank fund that could have addressed deficit in the electricity market.

    “Additionally, N78bn has been put in the budget for “distribution” projects to be implemented by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Categorically, until the tariff gap is addressed by the government, we do not see a pathway to meeting both commitments,” they said.

    Chairman of Aura Energy Company (AURA), the core investor in Jos DisCo, Alhaji Tukur Modibbo, who spoke for the investors said the firms have not gotten any return on their investments.

    Modibbo said the labour crisis during the peak of the privatisation in 2013 hindered the potential investors from doing a technical due diligence of the assets before they made payment to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    He said: “I was part of the team; we had to rely on records given to us by BPE. I can tell you that the records were not accurate as there was no technical audit or a financial audit of the firms when they were under PHCN.”

    The investors said they found that the estimated Aggregate Technical, Collection and Commercial (ATC&C) losses, customer enumeration and metering requirement by BPE were wrong, coupled with huge old legacy debts which the DisCos took from the N213bn CBN loan which they are paying interest for.

    Modibbo said the investors would want to meet with the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on the issue of service improvement. “We have invested much in the utility but we have not recorded any gain,” the added.

    The investors said they are ready to quit if government would refund their acquisition investments as they have declared a force majeure twice, a condition for their refund with the Federal Government refusing to accept their quit notice.

  • Improve electricity supply to Nigerians or quit, Fashola tells DisCos

    Improve electricity supply to Nigerians or quit, Fashola tells DisCos

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on Monday directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to immediately step in to ensure that Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) improve on their distribution equipment and increase capacity to enable them optimize the use of electrical resources by the Generation Companies (GenCos).

    Fashola, who spoke at a press briefing on the “Power Sector State of Play, Next Steps and Policy Directives”, also directed NERC to enforce the contract of DisCos to supply meters and act to ensure the urgent speedy supply and installation of meters with a view to eliminating estimated billing and promote efficient industry and market structures.

    The minister, who said the improvement in their distribution equipment and increase in capacity would enable the DisCos take up the available 2,000MW difference between the generation capacity of the GenCos and the distribution capacity of the DisCos, also directed the regulatory commission to stop DisCos from threatening private entrepreneurs from entering the market to supply consumers whom they are unable to supply.

    Instead, according the minister, such entrepreneurs should be licensed by the commission subject to its terms and conditions “in order to promote competition and private sector participation and avoid a private monopoly of power”, adding that as clearly stated in Section 71(6) of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) dealing with Terms and Conditions of licenses, “no exclusivity or monopoly was intended for a license holder such as GenCos or DisCos.”

    The aforementioned section states that, “Unless expressly indicated in the license, the grant of a license shall not hinder or restrict the grant of a license to another person for a like purpose and, in the absence of such an express indication, the licensee shall not claim any exclusivity, provided that the commission may allow a licensed activity to be exclusive for all or part of the period of the license for a specific purpose, for a geographical area, or for some combination of the foregoing”.

    Noting that the regulatory commission has not issued any such exclusive license to any DisCo, Fashola declared, “If we take into consideration that, after five years of privatisation, there are still people and businesses who do not have power or enough power, common sense and public interest demands that we must not resist ordinary people, small businesses like shops and markets from seeking alternative sources of energy.”

    “The truth is that they already have these sources of alternative energy, in small petrol and diesel generators that cost them about N100 per kilowatt hour. If the DISCOs are not resisting the generator sellers who are contributing to pollution, what is the logic of resisting small entrepreneurs bringing mini gas plants to supply a market need,” the minister argued, pointing out that for now, the nation’s developmental needs could not wait “for businessmen who are not yet ready to serve”.

    Urging NERC “to act with dispatch,” Fashola said the stated policy statements were made in the national interest, public good, the need to support small businesses, provide access to power for ordinary people and increase productivity; adding, however, that although he was not unmindful of concerns about loss of market or customers by DISCOs, such concerns must be balanced against national interest and that with improvement in their businesses, they would be in a position to use their economies of scale of large volumes of power to buy out or out-price the small entrepreneurs.

    The minister implored members of the public who seek more information “to get a copy of EPSRA and read its simple provisions”, adding that the act confers extensive regulatory powers on NERC “including the power in Sections 73 and 74, to amend or cancel a license if the licensee is unable to discharge the duties and obligations imposed by the license.”

    Fashola also directed NBET, the bulk trader, to work with Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), to fashion out ways to ensure that the DisCos improve their collection remittance and also start to pay their debts saying this would help to promote stability in the Sector. “This business cannot progress if debtors do not pay their debts”, he said.

    Stating, however, that it is neither his intention nor that of government to take over the business of the DisCos, the minister declared, “On the contrary, it is government’s desire to see DISCOs thrive and flourish in a competitive environment”, adding, “In the period when they are not yet ready, willing, or able, life must go on and we must find solutions and substitutes as we have seen in other sectors”.

    Such sectors, he said, include the broadcasting, newspaper and telecommunication sectors where, according to him, “those who could not compete conceded and left the stage gloriously without breaking down the system”, while those who could compete have brought better living conditions to Nigerians.

    Saying that the policy directives should not be seen as anti-privatization, Fashola, who said they were meant to ginger all stakeholders to brace up to their responsibilities to serve the people, added, “I remain convinced that Privatisation is the way forward. Privatisation has brought us mega value in Broadcasting; it has brought us better value in Newspapers, Telecommunications and Banking and other sectors of our national life and I remain convinced that it will deliver in Power”.

    “This is not a time to trade blames, because there is enough to go round; rather it is a time to reiterate everybody’s responsibility and urge all of us to brace up, to do what we are obliged to do, which is to serve the people, he said, adding, “I suspect that these facts may appear like a red flag to the bulls of anti-privatisation, but I remain convinced that privatisation is the way forward”.

    Recalling that when the public complained about the tariff approved by NERC, he was the one that stood in the forefront of explaining to the public even though it was the Discos who collect the tariff, Mr Fashola declared, “In the face of this picture, where we have power to sell, with more to come, the number of complaints coming to Government for meters, which the DISCOs should supply, and for estimated billings, and mass disconnections when not everybody is owing, cannot continue”.

    “Government must act, and will do so. The DisCos bought these assets with their eyes opened, and they must compete to deliver or exit”, Fashola declared, adding that Small businesses who need very little power are not getting enough because the DisCos could not take the power to them.

    The minister expressed dismay that investment of GenCos was threatened because they could not utilise the capacity they have installed, adding that in order to improve service to small businesses, Government, acting through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), was linking Small Power Entrepreneurs with markets like Ariaria in Aba, Sabon Gari Market in Kano, and Sura Market in Lagos which, according to him, contain approximately 37,000, 13,000, and 1,047 shops respectively, which are being metered by the small entrepreneurs who have offered to replace the generators of traders with more efficient power and meters.

    According to the minister, there are 15 markets in all which if successfully implemented would provide power to 85,485 shops, empower 205,000 SMEs and create 2,000 jobs during the installation and after in operation and maintenance adding, “The DisCos are agitating that this should not happen, yet they offer no solution.”

    On what government has been doing to assist the DisCos and other operators to deliver power, Mr Fashola said as facilitator of business and enabler of the private Sector, government had, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, made available the sum of N213 billion to the power sector at a concessionary interest rate, below market rate, to GenCos and DisCos adding, however, that some DisCos had shied away from taking the facility.

    According to him, “probably because of the source of fund conditions, such as opening of letters of credit attached to the performance, some DisCos have not taken the money”, adding that currently NERC detected “an unauthorized use of money by the Ibadan DisCo” and was now taking some remedial measures.

    The minister said government has also responded to claims of debts owed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to DisCos before the present administration, a debt which, he said, “was alleged to be in the region of over N70 billion adding that at the cost to government, “several hundreds of thousands of bills, amounting to about 450,000 bills, were verified” while government has ascertained that N27 billion was owed by Federal MDAs to DisCos.

    Prior to the tenure of this administration, he said, GenCos and Gas suppliers who produce power, were being underpaid by NBET because the DisCos were under collecting or under-remitting such that GenCos were getting only about 20 per cent of their invoices from Power adding that Government intervened and created N701 Billion Payment Assurance Guarantee (PAG) to NBET to ensure that payment to GenCos improved.

    Payment of invoices, according to Mr Fashola, has now increased from 20 to 80 per cent “in the hope that if we move production, DisCos will collect and remit”. He expressed regrets, however, that his office still receives daily reports by mail, letters and e-mails of exorbitant bills by DisCos to Consumers without meters while the remittance by DisCos to NBET has not increased resulting in NBET owing the GenCos N325.7 billion, a debt which he was certain could be settled if NBET could collect what DisCos are currently owing it.

    Also, in order to assist in the evacuation of 2,000MW, the difference between what the GenCos can produce and the DisCos can distribute, Fashola said the DisCos were asked to submit their transformer and other equipment requirements adding that, as part shareholders, government has committed to invest N76 billion for the procurement of equipment and installation to help the DisCos evacuate the 2,000 MW to consumers.

    Other inputs by government, he said, include settling an inherited court case and making available N37 billion to Meter Asset Providers (MAPs), under the regulations made by NERC to license meter investors, “to help supply meters that the DisCos are under contract to supply but are yet unable to do so”, adding that the gesture was in order to bridge he metering gap and to promote harmonious relationship and reduced friction between the DisCos and their MAPs.

    Progress, the minister said, have also been recorded in the sector between 2015 and 2018 including improvement in the generation of power from 4,000 MW (approx) in 2015 to 7,000 MW (approx) in 2018 averaging an increase of 1,000 MW (approx) per annum adding that additional 455 MW (Azura); 215 megawatts (Kaduna), 240 MW (Afam III); 40 MW (Kashimbilla); almost totaling 954 MW would be added this year while 700 MW (Zungeru), 480 MW (Okpai II) about 1,150 MW are projected for 2019, even as the GENCOs are undertaking various repairs, rehabilitation and expansion that would bring on incremental power.

    “Transmission has also increased from 5,000 MW (Approx) in 2015 to 7,124 MW (Approx) in December 2017 averaging 1,062 MW per annum increase in transmission capacity. TCN currently has about 90 Transmission projects in various stages of construction and many are to be completed this year”, Fashola said adding, “So, we can transport what the GENCOS generate and there is a Transmission Expansion plan 2018 to 2028 which Government is committed to implement”.

    The Minister said although distribution has increased from 2,690 MW (Approx) in 2015 to 5,222 MW (Approx) in 2018, averaging an increase of 844 MW per annum “because the DISCOS have also done some work”, adding that from 2016 when the DisCos complained about lack of enough power to distribute, the problem today was that the DisCos could not distribute all of the Power that was available, leaving the sector with an unused capacity of 2,000 MW (Approx), with the approximately 1,150 MW projected to come this year and 2019.

    In the robust question and answer session that followed, Fashola explained that all the solutions being applied to reform the power sector such as the Payment Assurance Guarantee, among others, were contained in the Power Sector Reform Programme (PSRP) which the his Ministry compiled urging stakeholders, including the Media, to read it for understanding.

    Also present at the event were the Minister of State, Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Zarma Hassan; Chairman NERC, James Momoh; and his Vice, Sanusi Garba; Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Mohammed; Managing Director Rural Electrification Agency, Damilola Ogunbiyi; other Agency Heads, Directors and Special Advisers.

     

  • Stop Discos from estimated billings, electricity consumers urge NASS

    Stop Discos from estimated billings, electricity consumers urge NASS

    Some electricity consumers have appealed to National Assembly to enact a law compelling electricity distribution companies(Discos) to install pre-paid meters for all customers to save consumers from estimated billing.

    They made the appeal in separate interviews with newsmen on Friday at a forum on arbitrary estimated billing organized by Association of Electricity Consumers Right in Lagos.

    Akin Badmus, Coordinator of the Association, urged the lawmakers to promulgate a law that would ban Discos from billing consumers on estimation.

    Badmus said that issues around estimated billing and non-availability of prepaid meters needed to be addressed to enable Nigerians enjoy the benefits of privatisation.

    According to him, most electricity consumers are struggling with the twin problems of estimated billing and poor services, four years after privatization.

    Badmus prayed the 8th Assembly to enact a bill that would criminalize estimated billings to electricity consumers and order Discos to install meters in every household.

    “Most Discos have refused to install meters that would determine the level of consumption of electricity consumers – a device that measure the amount of energy used by a resident and business owners,” he said.

    Another consumer, Mrs Felicia Dorothy, a resident of Ogba Housing Estate, urged the lawmakers to consider a review of the privatisation exercise so as to address concerns raised by consumers.

    Dorothy also appealed to the National Assembly to proscribe estimated billing used by Discos to shortchange consumers.

    “ The National Assembly should consider a bill seeking to amend the Power Sector Reform Act.

    “Every electricity consumer must be provided with a pre-paid meter, thus ending the regime of paying for power not consumed,’’ she said.

    Alhaji Sunmola Ojurongbe, Chairman, Ojokoro Housing Estate, said many artisans were being ripped off through over-billing and estimated billing.

    “It is unbearable for a welder to pay as much as N15, 000 when you hardly get uninterrupted supply each day.

    “I believe if functional pre-paid meters are installed, you only pay for what you use,’’ Ojurongbe said.

    Data obtained from Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) show that over three million or 45 per cent out of the 7.47 million consumers nationwide have prepaid meters.

  • No exclusive monopoly in power distribution – Fashola tells Discos

    No exclusive monopoly in power distribution – Fashola tells Discos

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has allayed fears of Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) over government’s investments in solar energy plants.

    Fasola allayed their fears at the 20th Monthly Power Sector Stakeholders’ Meeting hosted by Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) in Owerri.

    The minister said that the Discos expressed their fears in a letter to his office about some government’s initiatives on power generation and distribution.

    Fashola said some government’s initiatives which included provision of meters to consumers by meter suppliers, provision of more power to consumers through licensing of eligible customers and promotion of more solar power through mini-grids had prompted the fears of the Discos.

    He said Discos had nothing to fear about solar, stressing that all government’s initiatives were targeted at improving services to the people.

    “It is my understanding that you fear that you will lose some income or some customers if government proceeds and on the question of meters, you seek to have technical compatibility with what the licensees will operate.

    “In respect of possible investment in distribution equipment, you seek that government should route the investment through the Discos.

    “While your concerns about business viability, financial stability and cost recovery are well understood and indeed supported by the Electric Power Sector Perform Act of 2005 ( EPSRA ) which government will respect, I must point out that government’s focus is also strong on the issue of service to the people.

    “As far as the promotion of solar and other sources of independent power are concerned, please note that not only are they supported by the ESPRA, they are consistent with our Paris Climate Change Agreement Obligations and with emerging global practice,” he said.

    The minister said that ESPRA did not contemplate a monopoly for any licensee unless it was expressly stated in the licence.

    Fashola said the monthly meeting was to review the progress made from the last monthly meeting held in Lagos in September and to collectively engage the challenges that lied ahead in the roadmap to incremental, stable and uninterrupted power supply.

    He said that in the last month, the sector recovered 100mw from the damaged Afam IV power plant which had been inoperative since January 2015.

    The minister said that TCN had energised the Jebba-Kainji 2nd 330KV line and the 2nd Ajaokuta-Abuja 330KV line both of which were inoperative since 2015.

    According to him, the Federal Executive Council on Oct. 4 approved the verified sum of N25.9 billion Federal Government MDA debts and its payment by setting it off against debts owed by the Discos to NBET.

    The minister as saying that the sector was also making progress in recovering debts due from international customers.

    He said the sector was equally working to expand the distribution network of the Discos so that they could take additional 2,000 mw of power now available for supply

    Fashola said that debts of ministries, departments and agencies would be paid through their debts to Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company ( NBET ).

    He said that one of the challenges to overcome was how the Discos could quickly increase their capacity to take power and distribute to consumers.

    The minister commended the critical role of the judiciary and the law enforcement agents on the strict enforcement of arbitration clauses in the power sector.

    “We welcome this judicial support to stop corruption in the power sector, enforce the law and promote liquidity in the sector.

    “We also welcome the intervention in the Court of Appeal in the case involving the tariff review,” he said.

    Mr Paul Okeke, the Acting Managing Director of EEDC, commended the minister for his unrelenting efforts to improve the power sector.

    He said EEDC was also committed to the improvement of power supply in the country.

    Okeke also spoke on some progress made by the company, adding that there were ongoing schemes to improve service delivery in the sector.

     

     

  • Buhari presides over FEC meeting, approves payment of N25.99bn debt to Discos

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the settlement of N25.99 billion debt owed power Distribution Companies (Discos) by the Federal Government.

    The Minister of Work, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola briefed State House correspondences at the end of FEC presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    According to him, the amount, which has been verified was owed by the Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    He also disclosed that the verification of the amount owed by States and Local governments is still ongoing.

     

    Details later…

  • Release N100bn electricity subsidy, DisCos appeal to FG

    Release N100bn electricity subsidy, DisCos appeal to FG

    The Association of Electricity Distribution Companies (ANED) has appealed to the Federal Government to provide the N100 billion subsidy it promised after private investors took over the power sector utilities on November 1, 2013.

    ANED, in a statement by its Executive Director, Mr Sunny Oduntan also appealed to the government to inject funds into the transmission section of the sector.

    It said that the inadequate funding of the TCN was responsible for the huge loss and rejection of electricity load .

    According to the statement , government which holds 40 per cent equity in the utilities, had pledged to provide many interventions in the Performance Agreement between DisCos and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    “To date, the government has not met the privatisation transaction foundational requirements of providing N100 billion in subsidies, payment of MDA electricity obligations.

    ”It has not ensured that the DisCos have debt free financial books; and the implementing of a cost reflective tariff,” it said.

    It said that the funding level of TCN was inadequate, given TCN’s estimate of 7.5 billion dollars for its five-year expansion plan designed to increase its capacity to wheel 10,000 megawatt (mw), from the current 4,500mw.

    It said that the DisCos could only recover their costs when they have more energy delivered by TCN in the area where they have customers.

    According to the statement, it is unfair for the DisCos to suffer financial losses due to the limitations associated with TCN’s wheeling of electricity.

    It said TCN, a public utility, has remained underfunded over several decades.

    “Such underfunding has resulted in poor transmission infrastructure and planning, with the consequences of grid instability and limited wheeling capacity, adversely impacting the distribution and generation of electricity.”

    It said that the inadequate funding of TCN was impeding the DisCos’ ability to distribute power and has led to crashes in power turbines of Generation Companies (GenCos) due TCN consistent requests for de-loading.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • DISCOs must write to notify consumers before disconnection – NERC

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), an independent regulatory body with authority for the regulation of the electric power industry in the country has said the various electricity distribution company in the country must notify consumers in writing before attempting to disconnect their power supply.

    This was made known in a statement recently released and signed by the acting Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr.Anthony Akah.

    The commission advised consumers (especially new) to follow due process before connecting to a source.

    “All new electricity connections must be done strictly on the basis of metering before connection. That is, no new customer should be connected without meter first being installed.

    A customer who elects to procure meter under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) Scheme must be metered within 60 days, after which the customer will neither be billed nor disconnected by the electricity distribution company”.

    Following reports of overestimated bills by the various DISCOs, NERC said all electricity consumers have right to a transparent billing system while also advocating for a formal notification process before consumers are disconnected from electricity source.

    “It is the customer’s right to transparent electricity billing. Unmetered customers should be issued with electricity bills strictly based on NERC’s estimated billing methodology.

    It is the customer’s right to be notified in writing ahead of disconnection of electricity service by the electricity distribution company serving the customer in line with NERC’s guidelines”.

    The commission also said consumers have right to investigations arising from service interruptions. It stated clearly that consumers do not have business buying or replacing transformers, electricity poles, etc.

    “It is the customer’s right to prompt investigation of complaints arising from the customer’s electricity service disruption.

    It is not the responsibility of electricity customer or community to buy, replace or repair electricity transformers, poles and related equipment used in supply of electricity”.

    The statement states further: “It is the customer’s right to contest any electricity bill. Any unmetered customer who is disputing his or her estimated bill has the right not to pay the disputed bill, but pay only the last undisputed bill as the contested bill go through the dispute resolution process of NERC.

    All complaints on your electricity supply and other billing issues are to be sent to your nearest business unit of the electricity company serving your premises. If your complaint is not satisfactorily addressed, you can forward your complaint to the NERC Forum Office within the coverage area of your electricity distribution company. Customers also have the right to appeal the decision of the forum at the NERC headquarters in Abuja”.

    The commission however warned consumers to regularly pay their bills and avoid meter by-pass or stealing of electricity and protect power infrastructure from being vandalized.

  • ‘If you don’t have the skill and patience to serve, leave’, Fashola warns DISCOS

    The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Monday warned the distribution companies in the country to step up their service delivery or quit.

    Fashola gave the warning at the opening ceremony of the 11th Monthly Stakeholders meeting in Lagos.

    According to him, we all know the issues around metering and billing system; we must build the trust and confidence that customers’ complains will be addressed.

    “We need to do whatever is possible in our various distribution areas to improve the quality of service and continue to train our personnel to recognise that customer is king.

    “If we cannot provide or solve their problems, we own it a duty to explain what we are doing.

    “We own it a duty to fish out a few members of staff, not all, because we have some dedicated staff.

    “I am conscious of the challenges the operators are facing.

    “We are working as hard as we can to make the environment more responsive to you and as I have said and will repeat that as pioneers, you will carry some burdens.

    “You will have to sacrifice, perhaps more than what you have done,’’ he said.

    Fashola said that without the customers and the consumers, there would be no business.

    “I think that all of us in the public and private sector must understand that. If you don’t have the skill and the patient to serve, leave.

    “But I am optimistic that things will get better, I am optimistic that we can win together and we can win for the Nigeria people,” the minister said.

    On the liquidity issues, Fashola said that government was working with other development partners.

    “Local and international partners would have shown commitment and inspiring appetite to play in this market.

    “We are trying to see what we can do together in order to bring the liquidity issues under some control and from there eventually solve it.

    “Our partners in government are also inspiring and show understanding of what the challenges are. So, it is quick decision making now.

    “Collaboration and decisions will be fair, but firm, and we expect that people will respect the decisions and also processes to be re-engaged as they come,” the minister said.

    In his remarks, the Managing Director, Ikeja Electric, Mr Anthony Youdeiwoe, said that 2016 was a challenging year for stakeholders.

    According to him, though, the challenges still remain, they are better discussed whenever we meet like this.’’

    He said that efforts were also ongoing to address the challenges and proffer solutions.