EEDC explains disconnection of customers in South East

• Says customers on smart pre-paid platform not affected

Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has said that its planned disconnection did not apply to customers on the smart pre-paid platform, but few customers using a particular brand of meter the company could no longer provide support for.

The Head of Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, stated yesterday that the affected customers had been pre-informed of the development through a letter, and were encouraged to take advantage of the ongoing
Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme to replace their meters, as “the ones they are using are obsolete and no longer compatible with the existing operating technology.”

According to him, the rumour that smart pre-paid customers were affected was triggered by false online publications, which he described as misleading and did not emanate from the company.He added, “So, it is important to state that customers on smart pre-paid meters are not affected by this; the few customers affected have been communicated already.”

Some EEDC customers in the South East had on Friday raised the alarm over the planned disconnection from January 1, 2020. They alleged that the notices for the exercise dated December 16, 2019 was only served on them last week, insisting that it was a ploy to place them on estimated billing, which had proved to be a rip-off to customers.

The affected customers said the pre-paid meters were procured from the Power Company of Nigeria (PHCN), shortly before the Federal Government unbundled the power sector in 2014.Ezeh, however, said that there was arrangement to reimburse customers that still have energy units (credit) on their meters with the same value.

“As an Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-driven organisation that is committed to delivering customer satisfaction, we invest in upgrading our infrastructure, and always carry our customers along as we do this.“In this case, we have informed those customers affected and expect them to understand that the whole effort is towards satisfying them,” he added.