We’ll Soon End Estimated Billing, Electricity Discos Assure Consumers

• We’ll Soon End Estimated Billing, Electricity Discos Assure Consumers

The 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country have assured their non-Maximum Demand customers, which are consumers with minimal power consumptions that they are working diligently towards intensifying their metering obligations, with a view to phasing out estimated billing exercise which has become contentious.

The Discos made this assurance in a statement from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of their trade association – the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Mr. Azu Obiaya in Abuja, recently.

They stated that their metering targets which are captured by the performance agreements they signed with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) when they took over the distribution companies are being followed through and should result in all classes of consumers within their networks getting meters.

The statement also clarified the stoppage of estimated billing methodology for unmetered large power users also called Maximum Demand (MD) customers, stating that residential customers that are yet to be metered should continue to pay their estimated bills pending when they get meters from their respective Discos.

It further explained that such large customers who the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has excused from estimated billing include commercial and industrial customers who consume high levels of electricity.

The distribution companies noted that the threshold consumption for MD customers was 45KVA and that they mostly have dedicated transformers.

“While we continue to operate with the estimated billing methodology that is approved and mandated by the NERC, we are working diligently towards addressing the metering obligations specified under our performance agreements with the BPE, and ensuring that we continue to be sensitive and responsive to the inadvertent challenges of estimated billing that our residential or non-MD customers are faced with,” said the Discos in the statement.

They further stated: “It is important that we state that there is no more interested party in the comprehensive metering of our electricity consumers than the Discos. It is our hope and expectation that such metering will be achieved sooner rather than later.”

“The NERC directive only applies to MD customers and not residential customers. NERC has made the clarification as well,” it added.