Abuja Disco not benefitting from estimated billing, says MD, Mupwaya

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said it has invested about N10 billion in pre-paid meters to address the issue of estimated billing.

Speaking at the flag-off of installation of 222,728 pre-paid meters yesterday in Abuja, the Managing Director, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, disclosed that the investment was also to confirm to customers that AEDC was not benefitting from estimated billing.

Mupwaya maintained that the pre-paid metering would address the challenges of high losses from lack of meters.

“The flag-off of the 222,780 mass metering project today is a critical project in the power sector, as it will help AEDC to bridge the metering gap because where we don’t have meters, it is very difficult to convince customers to pay on the basis of estimated bill.

Because of that, there is low payment.

So when you calculate the amount of energy supplied and what you have realised, the gaps are very high.

“By installing meters, we build the confidence of the customers and they can control their usage, match it with their resources, and willingness to pay will improve

“The losses are real because areas where we have few meters, resistance to pay is very high and the losses are huge,” he said.

Mupwaya lamented that the increase in energy purchase had not been transferred to the consumers.

“The tariff at which we are buying energy is not very transparent to the public.

From 2015 till date, the price of energy has increased beyond 100 per cent, but there has not been a corresponding increase downstream,” he added.