NERC accuses electricity firms of inflating bills

NERC Accuses Electricity Firms Of Inflating Bills

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that
electricity distribution companies in the country are enriching
themselves corruptly through the issuance of estimated bills to
consumers.
This is following complaints by consumers who decried the over 100
per cent rise in their bills for the month of October, a development
which was not commensurate with the actual supply of electricity.
Reacting to consumers’ concerns during a radio call-in programme
monitored by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday morning, the
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said the
distribution companies were being mischievous by not metering
customers but extorting them.
Asked to explain why the October bill increased by over 100 per cent,
Amadi said, “We talk about estimated billing, which has now become a
synonym for corruption among the Discos, the truth of the matter is
that some distribution companies are still indiscriminately inflating the
bills of consumers and that is part of what we are tackling.
“Because they’ve not metered these consumers, they use the
opportunity to extort their customers. The bill for last month increased
and there has not been significant improvement between the power
supply of last month and that of this month. Also, NERC has not
increased tariffs; so, clearly, something is happening.
“What is happening is that the Discos are now moving higher to make
more revenue by overcharging unmetered consumers and that is one
area we are going to be tackling them. It is not going to be easy
because we don’t have an empirical formula of knowing who has been
exploited, but we will find a way. That is why we say consumers
should complain to us through our forum offices for we are ready to
get to the heart of this.”
Reacting to the claims that there were enough meters in the country
and that the Discos had refused to buy them because of their desire
to extort consumers through estimated billing, Amadi said it was not
NERC’s responsibility to prescribe meters to operators.
He said, “NERC is supposed to provide certification to importers,
manufacturers and installers of meters across the country. We’ve put
out a very transparent process by asking those who have meters to
get them certified. So, there’s a procedure for certification and we
have Nigerian companies that have also been certified as well as
those who are importers.
“And we’ve published in the newspapers a full list of all the
companies, including those that manufacture, import and install. And
we also gave to every Disco the full list of companies that have been
certified.
“It is right to say that there are meters in Nigeria and it is the
responsibility of the Discos to ensure that the meters are certified by
NERC; and if they are functional, the Discos should use them and
meter customers. We are the regulator, we don’t prescribe to the
operators.”
On whether there were reasons why a distribution company would
choose not to use meters produced in the country, Amadi said there
were complaints that they were easily being bypassed by consumers.
He said, “There are about three or four meter manufacturers in
Nigeria. But let me say that under our local content regulation that is
about to start, we indicated that we should use Nigerian meters as
long as they are compliant with the rules.
“Now, see what is happening! Some companies like Eko Disco have
come to us to say that consumers are bypassing some of the meters
because of their degree of smartness. This is because meters have
different levels of smartness and truly, some consumers bypass
meters and disrupt their functionality. So, they said they would like to
get smart meters.” – Punch.