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Electricity Prepaid
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The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors,
ANED says directive by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to
consumers not to pay estimated electricity billings only applies to Maximum
Demand, MD, customers and not residential.
News Agency of
Nigeria report continues:
The Chief Executive
Officer of ANED, Azu Obiaya made the clarification in an interview with the
News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja on Sunday.
Maximum Demand (MD)
customers are commercial and industrial customers who consume high levels of
electricity and contribute substantially to the revenues of distribution
companies.
The consumption
threshold for MD customers is 45KVA.
MD meters are
connected on the 11Kv (High tension wire) electricity lines, mostly on
dedicated transformers. The customers include heavy users of electricity like
commercial business plazas, large firms, and small-scale industries among
others.
NERC had in
June 2016, issued a directive to distribution companies for all MD
customers to be metered by November. 30, 2016.
Following the
expiration of the deadline, it further directed that MD customer that was not
metered by March 1, shall not pay any electricity bill presented by a
distribution company on the basis of estimated billing methodology.
It also said that no
distribution company shall disconnect any MD customer that was not metered by
March 1, on the basis of the customer’s refusal to pay a bill issued after the
compliance deadline on the basis of estimated billing methodology.
The commission had
also urged any MD customer not metered by March 1, to notify the commission
directly.
To this end, Mr.
Obiaya said, “we recognize that our residential consumers will be interested in
this notice thinking that it applies to them in their need for meters, and we recognize
that everyone will like to be metered, we are working towards that.
“But this time, that
notice by NERC is specific for maximum demand customers.
“Yes, it is a
challenge, but we are working hard to ensure that we meter all the MD customers
to eliminate issues associated with estimated billing that those customers
have.”
He said that the
DisCos had substantially metered MD customers, adding that the mass metering of
residential consumers was on–going.
He said it was also
in the interest of the DisCos to meter all MD customers and other categories of
customers in the country.
“So, our expectation
is that the metering of MD customers comprehensively is been completed at this
time.
“I know in my
various discussion with the DisCos, with respect to the deadline we have been
given by NERC, it is in our interest to essentially meter all of our MD
customers. ”
The ANED CEO called
on Nigerians to support the DisCos to comprehensively meter all residential
customers by fulfilling their obligations of payment of electricity bills.
He said that the
DisCos were committed to delivering quality electricity supply to all category
of customers.
“We would urge them
to please meet their obligation as residential customers, we will also like to
say to them, we understand the need for them all to be metered.
“The DisCos had continued to work very hard to meter all their customers, but we must all fulfil our own responsibility as residential customers by meeting our electricity payment obligation.
1 comment:
Prepaid meter is beneficial to all, consumers and government as we are prepaid sim in our phones. We can also use prepaid meters.
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