IE begins meter roll out in Unilag estate

Residents of the University of Lagos Estate in Isheri, Lagos, at the weekend urged Ikeja Electric (IE) to improve on its service in terms of power supply, while commending it for the installation of meters in the estate, under the Meter Asset Provider scheme (MAP).

Chairman of the Community Development Association (CDA), Alhaji Bashir Momodu, said with the rollout of the meters, they could now control their consumption as they are paying for whatever they use.

Another landlord, Engr. Kunle Olaifa, while commending the Disco, noted that installation of meters will gradually eliminate the issue of outstanding bills left by tenants when vacating premises, which is always the nightmare of homeowners.

Mrs. Abimbola Ande expressed joy that with the installation of meters, the burden of crazy bills has been lifted off her. According to her, a new Nigeria is emerging, adding that she receives text messages informing her of any challenge whenever there is prolonged outage.

Responding, the Ag. Chief Commercial Officer Ikeja Electric, Ugochukwu Obi-Chukwu, reiterated IE’s commitment to bridging the metering gap across its network, through the MAP scheme. “Ikeja Electric is deploying the meters in two phases, starting with Shomolu, Ikorodu and Abule-Egba Business Units. The second phase will now include Akowonjo, Ikeja and Oshodi Business Units.

We have already commenced MAP in the Shomolu Business Unit, with the metering of Unilag Estate in Isheri and Magodo, which is currently ongoing. The unique demography of these areas actually made the survey of customers very easy,” he explained.

He advised customers to register for MAP through map.ikejaelectric.com using the account number on the bill to update their KYC (Know Your Customer) details, after which a survey will be carried out to determine the type of meter that will be suitable for their premises.

He said customers would be advised to pay based on the survey and the meter will be installed within 10 days after payment.

Obi-Chukwu noted that the company has put measures in place to ensure that the meters are not by-passed, that there are monitoring team patrolling the network on daily basis to cross check the meters and whoever is caught to have by-passed the meter will be sanctioned accordingly.

“The offender will be made to pay fine of N50,000 if it’s single phase meter and N100,000 for by-passing three phase meter. Also, such customer will be charged for loss of revenue by billing the customer, as determined by Ikeja Electric. The fine depends on the nature and level of by-pass,” he said.