BEDC to Provide Free Pre-paid meters to Electricity Consumers

Relief has come the way of electricity consumers in Delta and neighbouring states as Benin Electricity Distribution company (BEDC) is set to distribute pre-paid meters free of charge to consumers in its coverage areas. The company said the decision was in response to the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to DISCOs to make meters available to consumer at no cost.

Head, BEDC, Delta State, Ernest Elgah disclosed this at a Customer Public Forum held at the Mom Civic Centre, Warri. He said that the NERC had issued a directive to all distribution companies in the country to stop collecting money from customers who want to buy meter adding that henceforth, meters will be given to customers free of charge.

Elgar said the distribution of the meters have already started and that BEDC will distribute meters to all its customers within three to four years as the company cannot provide meters to all its customers within one year.

He said BEDC will make sure that the meters gets to all its customers but asked for patience on their part, stressing that they do not have the funds to provide meters for everybody at the same time.

The BEDC Boss said the metering will be done in batches and that by the end of five years, every house would have been metered.

He also disclosed that the Minister of Power has set machineries in motion to ensure that Government Ministries and agencies who are owing BEDC pay up their debt to ensure a smooth running of the BEDC.

“BEDC receives nine percent of what is available at the national grid. BEDC covers four states namely, Edo Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states. Once the national grid has challenges the available power to BEDC reduces

“Standard practice all over the world is that for every one million population, they should consume 10,000mw. Now that the country is boasting of about 160 million people, then we should be talking about a hundred and something mega watts.