Citing shortage of meters, electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have not complied with the Federal Government’s directive to give consumers meters. Consumers, who are getting estimated bills, accuse the firms of fleecing them. The DisCos deny the allegation, saying there is a scientific method of preparing estimated bills, AKINOLA AJIBADE reports.
ADENIYI Ojo, 48, is worried about the monthly electricity bills he receives from the Ikeja Electric (IE), his service provider. Describing it as “outrageous,” Ojo, who lives in Egbeda, Lagos State, lamented that he pays between N12, 000 and N14, 000 monthly as electricity bill for his three-bedroom apartment.
The electrical/electronics engineer said his grief is worsened by the poor electricity supply that has been a permanent feature in Egbeda and other areas serviced by Ikeja Electric, one of the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country.
Ojo told The Nation that his fury over being short-changed, which stemmed from the payment of such ‘crazy’bills by consumers could have been avoided if DisCos had complied with Federal Government’s directive to meter all consumers within a specified period.
He said rather than comply with the 12-month period given to them by the government through the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to meter all customers; the DisCos insist on the claim that there are insufficient meters to go round only to continue with estimated billing, which allegedly is meant to fleece their customers.
It was learnt that to solve the lingering problem of estimated billing, also called “crazy billing” and to monitor power consumption pattern, the National Assembly has ordered the power firms to meter all their customers within 12 months. However, none of the 11 power DisCos has met the deadline. They have continued to bill the customers on estimation, and this has not gone down well with Ojo and, indeed, other electricity consumers across the country.
Apparently to give credence to his claim that the DisCos’ failure to meter consumers was deliberate and intended to fleece consumers, Ojo said he has tried all he could to get either a pre-paid meter or an analogue meter to reduce his monthly energy bill, but to no avail.
Ojo said: “In 2012, I applied for a prepaid meter at my business unit in Ponle area of Egbeda, having realised that my monthly electricity bill was becoming too much for me to bear. Due to my inability to get a prepaid meter, I approached the unit to see if I could get an analogue meter. Years after, I have neither got a prepaid meter nor an analogue meter from the DisCo. This means I would continue to pay estimated bills.”
That is not Ojo’s only reason for feeling cheated. He lamented that he and, indeed, like other customers within the area who don’t have meters, have not only been paying huge bills but also bribe officials of the power firm sometimes to avoid disconnection.
Ojo is not alone in his frustration. Another customer, Ponle Adeoye, said she has been paying estimated bills since she is unable to get a meter. Adeoye, a lawyer, said estimated billing was a ploy by the power firms to rake in money from hapless customers.
While condemning the refusal of the power firms to meter consumers instead of reeling out estimated bills, Adeoye said it amounts to inflicting more pains on Nigerians who have been hard hit by daily power outages.
She said: “To me, the idea of estimated bills is confusing. What are the parameters used by DisCos to determine the cost of electricity, which customers that do not have meters consume?
“It is quite unfortunate that an average consumer do not know the parameters. All we (consumers) see every month are ‘crazy bills’ that run from N13, 000, N15, 000 and up to N20,000, depending on the DisCo.”
Similarly, Ade-Owas Ohabunwa decried the state of the power industry viz-a-viz the huge cost of electricity paid by consumers as “unfortunate.” He accused electricity firms of hiding under the pretext of shortage of meters to extort customers through estimated billing. He said the power firms are compounding the problems of electricity users.
Ohabunwa, who is the Chairman of Amuwo-Odofin Estate, Lagos said many residents in the area do not have meters, adding that they pay huge bills monthly. He said residents of the estate are tired of hearing promises from the management of Ikeja Electric that they would be given meters.
He said one of his neighbours who lives in a three-bedroom apartment was charged N500,000. “It is sad that the occupant of a three-bedroom apartment was charged N500,000 for some months because she does not have a meter. This was done in the name of estimated billing,” he said, asking: “How can one explain that?
Describing this as “ridiculous,” Ohabunwa lamented that this is the sad situation Nigerians found themselves even under the private sector ownership. He, however, said some of his members were given meters by the management of Ikeja Electric after staging a peaceful protest two years ago.
Local meter
manufacturers also hit
Electricity consumers are not the only ones affected by the power supply situation. Local meter manufacturers are also accusing DisCos of refusing to patronise them thereby adding to the problems associated with estimated billing.
Local meter manufacturers under their umbrella association, Electricity Meters Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (EMMAN) accused DisCos of fleecing their customers by billing them on estimation.
Its Executive Secretary, Mr. Muhideen Ibrahim, said DisCos are making a lot of money through estimated billing; therefore, they are not eager to source meters locally for their teeming customers.
He said if DisCOS buy meters in large quantities from local manufacturers, they would meet the demands of their customers. While highlighting the importance of patronising local meter manufacturers, he said DisCos will resolve the problem of estimated billing if they engage us (local meter manufacturers) to produce enough meters but doing so would hurt DisCos’ revenue projections.
According to him, local meter manufacturers have the capacity to produce enough meters in the country. He said DisCos know this but refused to patronise them because they (DisCos) want to continue to make money through estimated billing.
Ibrahim said: “It is not that local meter manufacturers do not have the capacity to produce enough meters in Nigeria. The capacity is there, but the problem is that DisCos want to make money through estimated billing. Also, they want to continue to patronise meter producers abroad, where they falsely hope to get better meters.”
The EMMAN Executive Secretary argued that meters produced by indigenous companies are far better than the ones produced abroad, but the penchant for anything western is making DisCos to shun local meter producers for their foreign counterparts.
He said the allegation by DisCos that the meters produced in Nigeria are not compatible with their technology was not true, stressing that the claims are false.
The Chief Executive Officer, MEMCOL Nigeria Limited, Kola Balogun, said consumers who do not have meters are at the mercy of the power firms, which have refused to meter their customers so that they would continue to milk them.
Balogun said findings have shown that DisCos are charging crazy bills to improve their earnings.
DisCos react
However, some power companies have defended their services, describing as untrue claims that they deliberately imposed estimated bills on consumers to fleece them to recoup their investments.
According to the spokesman, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Felix Ofulue, the DisCos neither deliberately deny customers access to meters nor charge them estimated bills.
He said there were plans to roll out meters to customers, adding that the Ikeja Electric has started a metering roll out plan through which it would provide meters to its customers.
He said: “The plans to provide meters are on-going in Ikeja Electric. We are doing it on feeder to feeder and transformer to transformer basis. Customers in areas such as Ikorodu, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Anthony, and others within Ikeja Electric juridiction are going to get meters in line with the company’s metering plans.
Ofulue said some customers are happy paying estimated bills, while others are not.
He lamented that customers that have been metered bypass the meters in an attempt to defarud the power fim by not paying for electricity consumed.
The Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Dr Oladele Amoda, said it was not true that the DisCos charge customers outrageously because they want to generate revenue.
He said DisCos use a scientific method to determine how much they charge customers who do not have meters, and are therefore, not doing it arbitrarily. He said his firm considers certain factors before it charges customers that do not have meters.
Amoda listed some of the factors to include examination of the feeders in a particular area in order to know the volume of supply in a month; check the volume of electricity, which people have consumed over a period of time, usually a month, and thereafter, bill them.
“The issue of charging estimated bills by power firms was not arbitrary. The DisCos arrive at estimated bills through a scientific method fashioned out by the NERC. In fact, the DisCos are not happy with the issue of collecting estimated bills,” Amoda said.
He said Eko DidCo, for instance, frowns at estimated billing. “As a matter of fact, the company would like its customers to have meters. That is why we came out with a meter roll out plan through which meters would be given to our customers over a period of time,” he said.
Amoda, however, said part of the problem is the low capacity of local manufacturers of meters such that they have not been able to meet the needs of power distribution companies.
He, however, said Eko DisCo has partnered with meter producers abroad to supplement local production, adding that the firm has started to provide smart meters to its customers.
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