Clutching his prepaid smart card, Onuoha Ikenna walked briskly into the Agbani Road service station of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company on January 2 to recharge for him to enjoy electricity supply at his residence. He actually ran out of energy on January 1, but since it was not a working day, he decided to do the transaction the next day.
Narrating his ordeal to The Guardian, Ikenna, a commercial cab operator, noted that there was no prior awareness campaign on the new policy. He said he was only informed that a new meter would cost N39, 000 for the single phase and N69, 000 for the double phase. Tendering a copy of the notice dated December 16, 2019 and signed by one Ijotirmaya Lenka, a Network Manager for Awkunanaw district, she said she was alarmed to discover she had less than two weeks to sort herself out for possible new meter or risk living in darkness.
Explaining the facts behind the discontinuation of the standalone meters in their network, EEDC, which is the sole distributor of electricity to the five states of the zone, said the about 40, 000 customers, out of the over 1.3 million customers they have in the zone and located on eight of their 18 districts still use them.
EEDC’s latest position on the contentious issue, which was made public on January 8, contravenes an earlier statement from the company that was conspicuously posted at their Service Centres. The undated statement indicated that affected customers would be migrated to “postpaid connection” and would start receiving the postpaid bills from the next billing cycle, starting from February 2020. It added that their existing credit/unit would be adjusted in the postpaid bill.
“Again, EEDC should inform the people of the operational standards. How long will it take them to provide new meters and would there be supply before then? How are they going to be billed, pending arrival of the new meters? I know that Southeast gets the least of the generated power and pays more for it by design, not the making of the DISCO.
Another resident attributed the new order to the owners’ inability to invest into it, since it was handed over to them four years ago. has given the company a 14-day ultimatum to rescind the decision or face the occupation of its premises by residents.
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