Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC, has said the firm is putting human face to electricity business and showing empathy not ready to implement new 40 per cent increase on tariff billing.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PHED, Dr. Benson Uwheru, stated this in Port Harcourt, yesterday, at an event to mark one year anniversary of the firm’s operation under him.
Uwheru said: “We are putting a human face to the business. We are showing empathy. We are showing trust and we are empowering our people.”
He added: “Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has not directed us to implement the increment, hence we are still working with the known tariff system.
“The tariff has not been implemented. There is no order for us to implement the increments, so we are still using our old tariff.”
The MD said the distribution company has within one year achieved over 50 per cent revenue growth, minimised energy theft and vandalism, 30 per cent salary increment to staff and introduced a better working relationship, and no litigation from any vendor in the last one year.
“Our vision is to be number one electricity distribution company across our chosen market. We are driven by that vision anchored on three pillars, including aggressive revenue growth, reduced ATC&C losses and improved our liquidity position.
“When we set that vision the company was generating N4.8 billion monthly revenue but I am happy to announce that because we have improved service delivery, energy allocation across the service bay tariff, we have been able to grow revenue significantly above 50 per cent and last month, we recorded a historic feat of N7 billion revenue.
“When we came on board our ACT and C losses was almost hitting 50 per cent, but as at last month it has come down to 39 per cent, which is also a positive achievement when you consider the target we had for 2023, although we are not yet at the regulatory benchmark of 21per cent,” he explained.
