Ban on estimated bills: DisCos agree with NERC directives

The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) said the directive that unmetered customers should stop paying estimated bills applies only to large power users, 45KVA, and not residential customers.

In a statement yesterday, ANED representing the 11 power Distribution Companies (DisCos) said the directive issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was for some of the Maximum Demand (MD) customers that may not have been metered after the dateline for metering them expired on February 28, 2017.

The statement, issued by the Head/CEO, Azu Obiaya, dismissed the report in a section of the media that NERC stopped all unmetered electricity customers from paying estimated bills, adding that, “This is incorrect. For clarity, this requirement only applies to, and is specific to MD customers and not residential customers.”

Daily Trust reports that MD customers, also called Large Power Users (LPU), include companies and, mostly Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); large plazas and estates. The consumption threshold for such customers is 45KVA and that they contribute substantially to the revenues of the DisCos.

The statement said: “The 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.”

ANED said the DisCos will continue to operate with the estimated billing methodology approved by NERC until the on-going metering processes captured in their Performance Agreements with the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) is achieved.

Meanwhile, NERC in a statement by the Assistant General Manager (AGM) on Media, Mrs Vivian Mbonu, yesterday said, non-MD customers that do not have meters must continue to pay their estimated bills but warned the DisCos to strictly adhere to estimation methodology rather than hiking bills.