Electricity: Protests spread over estimated billing, high tariff

Protests against high electricity tariff and estimated billings of consumers by the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) seem to be gaining prominence across the country.
From Benin in Edo State where thousands of youths, late last year, took to the streets and blocked access roads in protest against high tariffs amidst darkness, to Kano where angry consumers voiced out their dissatisfaction, demanding a cut in their monthly bills, to Lagos where customers are forming themselves into a pressure group, the anger has spread to Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power where some business groups last Friday protested a hike in electricity tariff by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.
In Lagos, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), one of the two DISCOs operating in Nigeria’s commercial city, which has the highest electricity consumption level in the country, has ex¬tended the N750 fixed charge applicable to the Credited Advance Payment Metering Implementation (CAPMI) otherwise called prepaid meter, to its estimated/old meter¬ing system.
Customers in Ojo area of the state who have received their January 2015 bills were shocked to see the additional N750 fixed charge added to their bills.
“This is exploitation of the highest order in view of the fact that power supply has not improved and we are already paying crazy bills,” said a consumer who gave his name as Eliokor.
Godwin Idemudia, the corporate af¬fairs manager of EKEDC, did not take a call placed to his GSM phone on Friday, to give the company’s position on this.
Meanwhile, the Abuja business groups, under the name Co-operative Business Societies of Abuja, in a protest letter signed Maricel Romero, its coordinator, said that the increase would ruin business in the city.
The letter appealed to the National Electricity Regulatory (NERC) Commission and the Federal Ministry of Power to intervene in the interest of the public.
“We are objecting to the sudden 58 per¬cent increase on the kilowatt rate from N22.08 to N35.03 for commercial power consumers in the FCT.
“According to the Multi-Year Tariff Order guideline of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, the maximum stipulated increase for 2015 is five per cent.
We are shaken by this blatant disregard of the commission’s guidelines and a total lack of interest in the well-being of busi¬nesses operating in the territory,’’ the letter stated.
She lamented that many businesses had collapsed under the weight of the ever increasing cost of operating and harsh eco¬nomic status.
“We are already struggling to keep our head above water as a business with the austere economic situation in the country at the moment. This increase will run our businesses down and have a negative impact on our stakeholders and by extension on the growth of Abuja.
“This is a protest and a passionate appeal to the NERC, the Federal Ministry of Power and all other concerned citizens to intervene in the interest of the general public.
It will be recalled that over 2,000 electricity consumers in Benin, last December, protested increasing tariffs, fixed charge of N750 amidst dwindling service delivery. The angry consumers had besieged the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, (BEDC) office, along Akpakpava in Benin, to protest the poor service by the company.