Meter acquisition: Reps summon NERC, BEDC

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Meter acquisition: Reps summon NERC, BEDC

House of Representatives at Wednesday plenary invited electricity stakeholders especially in the distribution sector for a meeting to urgently review their maximum demand metering policy with a view to stopping same from applying to non commercial and industrial end users.

Also invited to the meeting included National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Benin Electricity Distribution Company ( BEDC).

The invitation was sequel to the consideration of a motion titled “Need for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to stop compelling Private Residential Community Clusters of Electricity Consumers to Pay and Acquire Maximum Demand Meters Instead of Individual Meters” moved by Hon. Ben Rollands Igbakpa.

Presenting the motion, Igbakpa submitted that whereas Maximum Demand (MD) Meters were supposed to be used by commercial and industrial customers who consumed high levels of electricity within the consumption threshold of 45KVA ( according to NERC regulations), the Benin Electricity Distribution Company ( BEDC) in flagrant disregard for electricity regulations had started compelling non commercial domestic consumers to acquire MD metres.

He said: “The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC ) now imposes maximum demand metering and billing system on domestic end users, whereby clusters of communities and individual consumers are billed under a single metre. So that, if a singular end user in the loop defaults in payment of their bill, the entire cluster of consumers are then disconnected. Secondly, it is obvious that the billing will subjective and estimated as there is no verifiable and empirical means of objective billing.

“The BEDC, apart from imposing MD Metres on clusters of individual consumers, are also in blatant violation of the laws into the malpractice of asking communities to pay for the energization of transformers purchased by such community or donated by individuals and representatives of such communities.

“These community of cluster users are made to pay between N1 – N1.5m for the MD meter and other charges. And that this meter is attached to the transformer, so that where the cluster is unable to pay the cost of the meter, the transformer is left idle, unenergized and left at the mercy of vandals while the consumers and their small scale businesses suffer.

“Some of these transformers are abandoned by the DisCos for up to four years, thereby frustrating the effort of the donors and defeating the entire purpose of lighting the communities.”

Igbakpa also stated that the reality constituted serious infractions on several rights of Nigerian electricity consumers as regulated by NERC.

He listed to the rights to include “right not to be disconnected except for non- payment of a correctly billed charge following laid down procedures; right not to be disconnected where – the amount owed by the customer is less than the value of his regular monthly usage and all power consumers have a right to a properly installed and functional meter per end user.”

The lawmaker added that it was also the responsibility of electricity distribution companies to provide meters, transformers, poles, wires and related equipment needed for electricity supply to consumers.

He cited section 68 (9) of the new Electricity Act, 2023, saying that it also prohibited receipt of funds by distribution companies from electricity consumers to purchase electricity transformers or related equipment.

Adopting the motion, the House ruled that DisCos should by the extant laws and regulations to provide metres for all electricity customers and to put a final end to estimated billing.

They were also mandated to energize donated transformers timeously, in order to prevent vandalization and to stop forthwith the unwholsome and illegal practice of compelling communities to pay before transformers are energized.