PHED Laments N27.6bn Unpaid Electricity Bills

• PHED Laments N27.6bn Yearly Unpaid Electricity Bills

The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company has lamented that it is losing about N27.6bn every year as unpaid bills by its customers in Rivers State.

The Chief Executive Officer, PHED, Mr. Jay McCoskey, said such a shortfall in revenue meant that the electricity distribution firm was losing the sum of N2.3bn as stranded revenue every month.

McCoskey, who spoke during the launch of the company’s ‘Energy Efficiency’ programme in Port Harcourt on Friday, pointed out that much of the unpaid amount came from customers who did not know how and where to pay their bills.

Explaining that the PHED had put in place measures to ensure that electricity consumers did not have difficulties in paying their bills, the CEO stated that the company had introduced a new online payment powered by GPay.

McCoskey said, “Every month, we have a stranded revenue of N2.3bn (N27.6bn every year). Most of the cases of non-payment is the problem of where and how to pay. What we have done now is that within five minutes, our customers can make their payment without pain.

“The online payment will complement other channels of payment. With the development, customers will spent few minutes to get their electricity bills paid. The online payment will address the hiccups some of our customers face, especially those on pre-paid meters, who run out of units during weekends or at night when our offices are closed.”

He pointed out that efficient use of energy would lower bills, saying, “The knowledge of energy usage and ability to manage the consumption level will lower operating and production costs for commercial and industrial customers.”