I was worried earlier this week when the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors announced that they lose N30bn monthly to theft, vandalism, others. The electricity distribution companies had said they lose such a huge sum of their monthly revenue due to cases of energy theft, meter bypass, and unpaid electricity bills by consumers.
The Discos said this is because over 40 per cent of power consumers do not pay their bills while indulging in illegal connection of electricity.
The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, ANED, Sunday Oduntan, said these challenges formed the major part of Discos’ Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses.
The power firms therefore called for effective legislation against energy theft to safeguard revenues and improve performance in the power sector.
While I feel for the distribution companies if their allegation is true, I feel the major problem that should be resolved first is the problem of overbilling. It is painful that after all the claims of doing everything possible to resolve the prolonged problem of power in Nigeria, the Discos have continued to frustrate initiatives that will ensure Nigerian electricity users pay only what they consumed. As the dream of Pre-paid metre continues to be unfulfilled for majority of Nigerian poor while their monthly bills, based of mere estimates, continue to rise, the feeling is that helpless Nigerians are being ripped off deliberately by heartless sharks at the corridors of power in the energy sector.
Now, if what the Discos said is true, that is that over 40 percent of electricity users are not paying any bills, it seems plausible that someone in the damned Discos have been transferring the accumulated bills of the said 40 percent to the helpless consumers that have been diligent in paying bills, hence the ever rising bills. It also seems believable that someone in the relevant sector has deliberately refused to identify and punish the alleged electricity consumers that connected illegally and refused to pay bills. Are we to believe that in this age and time, Discos cannot detect, through technology, any illegal connection? If that is the case, then it is a pity.
All I want to say is that before our lawmakers pay heed to prayers for legislation that will further boost the already buoyant economy of the Discos, they must make laws that will protect genuine electricity consumers that are paying bills from further exploitation. One of such is to ensure that no single Nigerian should be asked to pay electricity bill that is based on curious and wicked estimate. The technology of pre-paid metre is not too much for Nigeria in 2020. As far back as 1985, when I first visited Lome in Togo on holidays, I observed that that ‘poor’ country was already using pre-paid metre.
Oduntan had said, “There is a need for effective legislation by the National Assembly to checkmate energy theft in the country as the practice is costing the power sector billions of naira monthly,” adding that “the power sector is currently grappling with a liquidity shortfall of over N1.5tn occasioned by a combination of adverse conditions among which is the high rate of energy theft.”
Also the Discos in a presentation during a Senate public hearing earlier this week showed an instance where out of the N27.7bn that was billed for energy consumed in 2019 by unmetered customers, only N5.2bn was recovered.
Oduntan said, “On average, each Disco loses about N3bn every month on these challenges and for the 10 Discos who are our members, the monthly losses are over N30bn.”
As an electricity consumer in Matogun, Ogun State, under Ikeja Electricity, who has remained a victim of overbilling, I consider these claims as mere gimmick to justify the planned unfair tariff hike.
We have been told that the tariff hike scheduled to come into force on July 1 will be based on the hours of electricity supply available to the customers. If this is so, how do you expect consumers billed through estimates to feel fairly treated when he or she would not be there when the estimates are being made? So, for the common consumers of electricity today, the most important problem is fair billing. Just ensure that people only pay for what they consumed and the most plausible way is to use pre-paid metre. It is only after resolving this critical problem that we Nigerians will sympathize with the Discos if they have proven cases of power theft.
Babafemi wrote in from Matogun, Ogun State
