KAEDCO commences distribution of 1 million prepaid meters

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, otherwise known as Kaduna Electric (KAEDCO), said Wednesday, will kick-off the distribution of one million prepaid meters to electricity consumers under its franchise states of Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara on Friday (today).

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, KAEDCO, Garba Haruna, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Kaduna.

He said the exercise would be carried out over the next three years, adding that about 80,000 units of the meters would be installed between now and January 2021.

According to him, the scheduled timetable for the installation of the prepaid meters is being developed quickly, warning that the DisCo would be forced to withdraw its services from any community or consumer that may reject the installation of the new meters.

“When we identify a community where 70-80 percent of customers are not paying, we will take our service away from them. So, when you see anyone not paying or bypassing the meter, you must report such things just the way you will report when you don’t have supply because it will affect you at the end of the day.”

He continued: “We are ready to roll out mass meters starting from this Friday. We are coming up with a scheduled timetable that will indicate when this will happen from one community to the other because we cannot meter communities in four states in a day.

“Already, we have connected thousands of communities, but we are not getting our money back. We are getting only 40 percent payment in these already connected communities and that is not good for the business.

“In the next few months of this mass metering project, we are targeting 80,000. We will increase the number to 500,000 and more in three years, and at the end of the day, we may end up metering one million customers in three years because we have up to one million customers in our franchise states.

“In agreement with the regulating agency, anybody that rejects the meter, we shall withdraw our service, and allow the person to use alternative power sources.”

He equally cautioned consumers against contributing funds to buy electrical equipment in the communities, while encouraging them to expect more power supply.

“We will not ask you to pay for the meter upfront. We will just roll out the meters and sort out ourselves. It is an initiative with the Federal Government. We will do it in such a way that you don’t even know you are paying for the meter,” he explained.