When electricity consumers, distributor choose a warpath

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company’s (EEDC) non-compliance with the order on capping of estimated bills, coupled with over 55 per cent metering gap in the zone, has led to aggravated customer dissatisfaction in the South-East region.

These twin evils have jointly fuelled customers’ apathy to utility bills, thereby contributing to the liquidity issues in the National Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), LAWRENCE NJOKU reports.

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and its customers are at daggers drawn over alleged poor services and billing.

The EEDC is charged with the responsibility of distributing electricity across the five states of the South-East.

Early this year, electricity consumers in the zone, under the aegis of the South-East Electricity Consumers Association (SEECA), rallied around and demanded better services, in addition to asking the company to end estimation and bulk billings and provide prepaid metres to adequately reflect their consumption.

Although activities of the group, which operated through WhatsApp platforms, and also held physical meetings from time to time were sublime, a recent report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the status of billings of customers, by electricity distribution companies quickly energised them and quickly set them on warpath with the EEDC.

The report dated February 8, 2024, found the EEDC guilty of over-billing customers in the region and insisted that the company refunds them, by crediting their accounts with energy.

NERC also in the report stated that the company should refund about N11.86 billion to customers being energy it overbilled them from January-September 2023.

A summary of the report signed by NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Commissioner Legal, Licensing, and Compliance, Dafe C. Akpeneye, said that EEDC over-billed 1, 011, 402 customers within the nine months through over estimation.

The commission also lamented that the persistent non-compliance with the order on capping of estimated bills by the EEDC for the period January-September 2023, had led to widespread customer dissatisfaction, which had aggravated customer apathy to pay their bills, thereby contributing to the liquidity issues in the National Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

A further check on the NERC’s Report No. 2024/006, indicated that the overbilled energy amounted to 200,986,846.55kwh for the nine months.

According to the performance review, the EEDC failed to comply with the monthly caps as estimated bills approved by the commission.

The commission explained further: “Upon completion of the review, the commission issued an RD stipulating a 14-day compliance deadline, which expired in August 2023.

“The RD also notified EEDC that further regulatory actions shall be taken, by the KPI Order for subsequent non-compliance. The continuous failure of EEDC to adhere to the commission’s monthly caps for estimated billing has led to a significant over-billing of customers.”

While outlining the monthly over-billings, the NERC noted that 203,375 customers were over-billed N1.9 billion in September; 188,298 customers were over-billed N1.74 billion in August, while 169,867 customers were over-billed N1.70 billion in July.

Furthermore, 82,887 customers were overbilled N1.15 billion in June 2023; 75,423 overbilled N1.07 billion in May 2023; 75,649 overbilled N1.14 billion in April, and in March 72,292, consumers were overbilled the sum of N1.05 billion. February 2023 saw 69, 936 being overbilled the sum of N991 million, while in January, 73,675 consumers were overbilled N1.06 billion.

The commission further ordered as follows: “At the billing cycle for energy consumed in February 2024, EEDC shall reconcile the accounts and issue credit adjustments for all customers that were over-billed between January and September 2023 based on the commission’s assessment as contained in Schedule 1.

“EEDC shall submit its billing data for the February 2024 cycle (and any other relevant information) to the commission as evidence of compliance with the provisions of Section 11(A) (6) of this Order, no later than the 31st of March 2024.

“EEDC shall publish, in 2 (two) national dailies, citing the provisions of this Order, the list of credit adjustment beneficiaries (follow the sample contained in Schedule 1), and the same concurrently posted on its website, not later than the 31st of March 2024.”

The power company is yet to comply with the directives in the guise that it is still verifying some of the claims made by the Commission.

To forestall further non-compliance, the NERC ordered a deduction of N1.18 billion, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the naira value of the total over-billing for the period January-September 2023 to be applied to EEDC’s annual OpEx over a rolling 12-month period during the next tariff review.

It warned that notwithstanding the provisions of Section 11(B)(6), and pursuant to the provision of Section 34(2)(F) of the EA 2023, the commission may deduct a greater percentage of the total over-billing from EEDC’s admin OPEX where a non-compliance with capping orders persists.

The discovery of the over-billing and the quantum of refund to be made to the customers appear to be the tonic that the group needed to amplify its voice and activities, especially the realisation that the company had not given effect to the directive of the NERC since it was pronounced.

The consumers, therefore, launched a regional campaign tagged, “No prepaid metre, no payment for electricity,” where they told residents that were being billed monthly by estimation to stop further payment until they were supplied with prepaid metres among other obligations contained in the NERC laws.

The aggrieved consumers have also been distributing an online link tagged “credit adjustments” for consumers to log on and ascertain how much they have been overbilled by the EEDC and “request for refunds.”

All these developments jolted the EEDC as it was no longer able to generate revenues from energy provided to customers, especially those on estimated and bulk billing.

Perturbed by the negative impact that activities of the group had on its operations, the EEDC in June dragged the group to court where it sought an order to stop its activities. It had accused the group of inciting its customers against her, alleging that already, many customers are relying on their campaigns to evade payment for services rendered.

Joined in the suit the company filed at the Federal High Court, Enugu, is the Chairman of the group, Rev. Okechukwu Obioha, the NERC, and some officials.

Justice M.J Umar, who heard the matter on July 10, however, refused to grant the interlocutory order to stop the activities of the group, but rather adjourned to September 20, hearing in the main suit filed by the company.

Relying on the refusal of the court to outlaw its activities, the group decided to scale up its advocacy by holding what it tagged, the “1st SEECA Electricity Stakeholders Summit,” slated for August 28, in Awka, Anambra State.

Okechukwu, who spoke to The Guardian, insisted that the “exploitation and extortion of electricity consumers by the EEDC” gave birth to the group, stressing that the report by NERC indicting the company for over-billing and sharp practices lends credence to their earlier suspicion about the activities of the company.

He stated that the company had relied on monopoly to continue to rip off residents of the zone, asking, “How come they don’t like giving prepaid metres to the customers? How come they flagrantly ignore NERC’s directives on metering?

“The EEDC must quickly comply by crediting without further delay, accounts of identified customers in the South-East that they have overbilled. The EEDC must be accountable, repent, and sin no more. The group came to help EEDC serve the South-East better, but the company decided to see us as their foe, and that is why it resorted to the court to shut us up. It is unfair for them to be exploiting customers and asking them to keep quiet. It is annoying,” he stated.

He, however, expressed joy that the supply of electricity has improved in the region since the group came on board, explaining that “we will continue to mass mobilise and sensitise the region on their rights and obligations to reduce the excesses of the company.”

Another advocate of “No prepaid metre, no payment,” Ifebuche Chukwu, accused the EEDC of being non-compliant with directives of the NERC on capping, stressing that it was sad that they continued to bill residents on estimation monthly, even with the epileptic services that they are providing.

She stressed the importance of metering as a prerequisite for every electricity customer.

Already the group’s advocacy is yielding dividends. An electricity consumer, Eze Ejiofor Solomon of Orba Road, in Nsukka, who gave his account details as 9975378713, has petitioned the Branch Manager of the company in Nsukka, demanding an immediate energy refund of 1,132kw overbilled him from 23 January to September 2023.

In the petition dated July 19, 2024, sighted by The Guardian, he had added: “I will still calculate my overbilled energy from that September 2023 up to now using NERC capping methodology of Order No/NERC 179/2020 to know how much over billing your office have subjected me to since then, but while at it, I will like your office never to disconnect me till this refund is effected, and to henceforth abide by the above mentioned NERC order in calculating my subsequent bills.”

A NERC quarterly report on metering for the last quarter of 2023, showed that the EEDC registered customers stood at 1,396,440. Of the number, only 616,210 representing 44.13 per cent have been metered. This leaves a total of 780,230, about 55.87% of customers without metres. The report also gave the number of customers it metered in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 as 15,388, and 11,559, respectively.

The report put the number of complaints by customers of the company as of the last quarter of 2023 as 52, 561. These include complaints on metering 24,997; interruption 5,022; Voltage 734; zero on load shedding; 3,705 on billing; zero on disconnection and delay and others, 18,103.

It added that Enugu Disco recorded an increase in the number of customer complaints for the last quarter of 2023, compared to the third quarter of 2023 where it recorded 51,365.

The EEDC, however, said that it would soon commence the refund to the affected customers, adding that it was poised to continue to improve services for the betterment of its customers in the southeast region.

The Head of Corporate Communications of the company, Emeka Ezeh, while confirming that the company was working out the credit adjustment, urged the customers to exercise patience.

“The regulators worked with data, but credit adjustments on the affected customers are ongoing. We are complying with that order and checking through our data to ensure that what was put out there is the true situation,” he said

Ezeh, who faulted some negative perceptions from the SEECA and other groups, insisted that the company has worked hard over the years to metre her customers and improve infrastructure and services generally, explaining that it would not rip off her customers under any guise.