Electricity consumers across the country have expressed dismay at the slow pace of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in supplying them with prepaid meters months after paying for the facility.
The consumers expressed their disquiet and unhappiness in a nationwide survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The new electronic meter was introduced about four years ago to replace the old post-payment meter in a move designed to increase PHCN's revenue, cut overhead costs which characterise the current house-to-house recovery of revenue and also reduce staff requirement.
The innovative measure, which automatically disconnects consumers who fail to pay for energy consumed, will also enable PHCN to determine actual energy demand in the country.
The consumers expressed their disquiet and unhappiness in a nationwide survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The new electronic meter was introduced about four years ago to replace the old post-payment meter in a move designed to increase PHCN's revenue, cut overhead costs which characterise the current house-to-house recovery of revenue and also reduce staff requirement.
The innovative measure, which automatically disconnects consumers who fail to pay for energy consumed, will also enable PHCN to determine actual energy demand in the country.
A single phase prepaid meter costs N25,000, while a double phase unit goes for N35,000 and a three phase meter costs N55,000.
In Borno, the PHCN Public Relations Officer, Mr Yemi Awe, told NAN in Maiduguri that the company had so far distributed more than 10,000 prepaid meters to customers in the state.
Awe said the company initially gave out the meters to customers in possession of the old analogue meters and added that the prepaid meter could be obtained after payment through the zonal office in Yola.
State offices of PHCN, he explained, received the prepaid meters based on a cash and carry basis on payment at various designated banks.
Awe said the way customers were patronising the new meter was encouraging, noting that power supply in the state had equally increased.
However, a cross-section of customers interviewed called on the government to make the meters available in all PHCN offices in the country.
Some said that after paying the various stipulated fees for the meters, they had to wait for a long period before collecting same.
In Kano, however, Alhaji Muktar Bappa, the PHCN Principal Manager, Public Affairs, told NAN that the company had entered into an agreement with a firm called MOMAS Nigeria Ltd to supply the prepaid meters.
He said the PHCN found it necessary to sign the agreement following the failure of a contractor who was given the licence to supply the equipment.
``There was a break in supply of the meters at the initial stage following the inability of a contractor to turn up and at the end of the day the whole contract was cancelled.''
Bappa said the agreement between the PHCN and MOMAS was a Public Private Partnership arrangement whereby the company would supply and instal the meters to customers, while PHCN would serve as a guarantor to customers.
He said the company had also carried out public enlightenment campaigns on the need for customers to patronise the meters, pointing out that the response was encouraging at the initial stage.
The spokesman, however, explained that prospective customers must sign an agreement form because in the event of tampering with the meters, they would be made to pay N50,000 fine or face prosecution.
``We have made the payment liberal because customers have the choice of paying in full or in instalments.''
``Many people don't want to sign the agreement for reasons best known to them; rather, they prefer to continue collecting estimated bills.
In Kwara, a source at the PHCN office in Ilorin said the company had so far distributed more than 3,000 prepaid and 1,000 analogue meters respectively to customers.
The official, who craved anonymity, told NAN that the meter allocation was based on ``first come first served'' basis.
``The PHCN in Kwara has distributed no fewer than 3,000 and 1,000 prepaid and analogue meters to its customers and even made announcement on radio to that effect,'' the source noted.
``The situation now at PHCN makes everybody, especially senior staff, to be wary of granting press interviews but there is no denying the fact that the company is in problem. Unfortunately, people don't believe it.''
Mr Funsho Adetunji, the Business Manager in charge of the Challenge District of the company, declined any comment, saying all enquiries should be directed to the Ibadan zonal headquarters of the PHCN.
Meanwhile, electricity customers in the state have lauded the allocation of the prepaid meters, but urged the PHCN to expedite action in ensuring that they were available to interested customers.
Mr John Dare, a welder, said the present estimated bill given to customers was ``undesirable and exploitative''.
He urged the government to import more meters to ease the hardships faced by consumers.
Alhaji Babatunde Ibrahim, a business centre operator, told NAN that the availability of the prepaid meters would eradicate indebtedness to the PHCN by its customers.
``The PHCN will be doing itself a lot of good by ensuring that prepaid meters go round the consumers.
``It will eradicate indebtedness to the company and at the end of the day both the consumers and the company will be better off.''
In Plateau, Mr Isah Rafee, the Public Affairs Manager of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), a subsidiary of the PHCN, denied allegations that the company was charging extra money for the installation of prepaid meters apart from the cost of procuring them.
Rafee noted that a single phase prepaid meter and a three phase unit cost N25,000 and N55,000 respectively, and advised customers not to pay any extra money as cost of installation.
He described those asking for such money as fraudsters.
``The cost of the meter and the installation is what is summed up in the figures I have given; anything outside that is illegal.’’
On who owns the meter after payment, the JEDC spokesman explained that the meter was a contract between the PHCN and the structure in which the customer was living and not the individual.
``What the customers pay for is not the meter but the cost of taking the service from PHCN, which is why the meter is not mobile.
``For example, if a landlord sells a structure to another owner, PHCN will continue operations with the new owner because the meter is meant for the building and not an individual.''
Rafee announced that the company had installed 29,000 prepaid meters out of the average population of 312,000 customers in the zone since the take-off of the new metering system in 2008.
``We have yet to commence the use of prepaid meters in Benue, some parts of Bauchi State, Plateau South and a reasonable part of Gombe, which are under the coverage of the JEDC,'' he said.
He explained that the delay in the installation of the meters after payment was because of the collation process which preceded the placement of order for the meters from the manufacturing companies.
``We don't produce the meters, we order for them from the manufacturers and that is done based on the number of customers who have paid for them.
``If we take delivery for the ones we have paid for, somebody pays for another immediately, the customer would have to wait for more people to pay because we can only order for the meters in bulk.''
Corroborating the stance of the Jos zone, the PHCN in Akwa Ibom also said customers could not clay claim of ownership of the prepaid meters installed in their houses or business premises.
The Uyo Business Unit Manager, Mr Chukwuemeka Otiji, told NAN that the prepaid meters were the property of the PHCN and that customers were only allowed access to use them in their homes or business premises on the payment of the approved charges.
He, however, said that customers were expected to protect the meters against vandalism or theft.
In case of theft, Otiji said the customers were responsible for replacing the meters.
The business manager said that out of the 33,000 electricity consumers in the Uyo Business Unit, only 1,780 customers had the prepaid meters installed in their homes or business premises.
He attributed the difficulty in accessing the meters to the contractors handling their supply.
Otiji explained that customers were usually allowed access to the meters after the inspection of their buildings and the transformer in the area where the service was needed.
``If the transformer cannot accommodate the customer, the meter will not be installed for such a person.
``Another requirement is that the wiring of the house or business premises must be certified by a licensed electrical contractor.''
In Delta, Mr Edwim Okwara, the Business Manager, PHCN Asaba District Office, said more than 6,000 prepaid meters had been installed in the district this year.
He told NAN that the meters were readily available for installation as soon as payment was made.
``We have so far installed more than 6,000 prepaid meters in the Asaba Business District from January to date.
``Initially, customers who paid for the meters were discouraged because they had to wait a longer time.
``But the period of waiting has gone as the stock is readily available and can be installed within one month at the residences of those who met the conditions.''
Okwara said most customers preferred the analogue to the prepaid meter because it was cheaper and rugged.
He said the district had embarked on the sensitisation of consumers in the area on the need to use the prepaid meter instead of the analogue unit.
``The system is becoming digitised everyday and we believe that the situation will gradually change and consumers will embrace the prepaid meter.''
Meanwhile, some electricity consumers told NAN that they preferred the analogue to the prepaid meter because they lived in rented apartments with a common meter servicing the entire tenants.
Mrs Patience Okocha, a resident of Asaba, said she would have preferred a prepaid meter if she was living alone and had full control of the facility.
``It is discouraging when you have to operate a prepaid meter in a rented apartment where many tenants are connected to one meter.
``I will not subscribe to that because you can't have full control over its usage.''
Mr Peter Onochei, another electricity consumer in Asaba, said he had been saved from the problem of disconnection since he installed the prepaid meter in his apartment.
``Now I am in control, I can manage my electricity the way I like. When I was on analogue, I spent more on PHCN bills than now.''
In Jigawa, the PHCN said it had installed prepaid meters in 1,000 residential houses in the state capital.
In Borno, the PHCN Public Relations Officer, Mr Yemi Awe, told NAN in Maiduguri that the company had so far distributed more than 10,000 prepaid meters to customers in the state.
Awe said the company initially gave out the meters to customers in possession of the old analogue meters and added that the prepaid meter could be obtained after payment through the zonal office in Yola.
State offices of PHCN, he explained, received the prepaid meters based on a cash and carry basis on payment at various designated banks.
Awe said the way customers were patronising the new meter was encouraging, noting that power supply in the state had equally increased.
However, a cross-section of customers interviewed called on the government to make the meters available in all PHCN offices in the country.
Some said that after paying the various stipulated fees for the meters, they had to wait for a long period before collecting same.
In Kano, however, Alhaji Muktar Bappa, the PHCN Principal Manager, Public Affairs, told NAN that the company had entered into an agreement with a firm called MOMAS Nigeria Ltd to supply the prepaid meters.
He said the PHCN found it necessary to sign the agreement following the failure of a contractor who was given the licence to supply the equipment.
``There was a break in supply of the meters at the initial stage following the inability of a contractor to turn up and at the end of the day the whole contract was cancelled.''
Bappa said the agreement between the PHCN and MOMAS was a Public Private Partnership arrangement whereby the company would supply and instal the meters to customers, while PHCN would serve as a guarantor to customers.
He said the company had also carried out public enlightenment campaigns on the need for customers to patronise the meters, pointing out that the response was encouraging at the initial stage.
The spokesman, however, explained that prospective customers must sign an agreement form because in the event of tampering with the meters, they would be made to pay N50,000 fine or face prosecution.
``We have made the payment liberal because customers have the choice of paying in full or in instalments.''
``Many people don't want to sign the agreement for reasons best known to them; rather, they prefer to continue collecting estimated bills.
In Kwara, a source at the PHCN office in Ilorin said the company had so far distributed more than 3,000 prepaid and 1,000 analogue meters respectively to customers.
The official, who craved anonymity, told NAN that the meter allocation was based on ``first come first served'' basis.
``The PHCN in Kwara has distributed no fewer than 3,000 and 1,000 prepaid and analogue meters to its customers and even made announcement on radio to that effect,'' the source noted.
``The situation now at PHCN makes everybody, especially senior staff, to be wary of granting press interviews but there is no denying the fact that the company is in problem. Unfortunately, people don't believe it.''
Mr Funsho Adetunji, the Business Manager in charge of the Challenge District of the company, declined any comment, saying all enquiries should be directed to the Ibadan zonal headquarters of the PHCN.
Meanwhile, electricity customers in the state have lauded the allocation of the prepaid meters, but urged the PHCN to expedite action in ensuring that they were available to interested customers.
Mr John Dare, a welder, said the present estimated bill given to customers was ``undesirable and exploitative''.
He urged the government to import more meters to ease the hardships faced by consumers.
Alhaji Babatunde Ibrahim, a business centre operator, told NAN that the availability of the prepaid meters would eradicate indebtedness to the PHCN by its customers.
``The PHCN will be doing itself a lot of good by ensuring that prepaid meters go round the consumers.
``It will eradicate indebtedness to the company and at the end of the day both the consumers and the company will be better off.''
In Plateau, Mr Isah Rafee, the Public Affairs Manager of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), a subsidiary of the PHCN, denied allegations that the company was charging extra money for the installation of prepaid meters apart from the cost of procuring them.
Rafee noted that a single phase prepaid meter and a three phase unit cost N25,000 and N55,000 respectively, and advised customers not to pay any extra money as cost of installation.
He described those asking for such money as fraudsters.
``The cost of the meter and the installation is what is summed up in the figures I have given; anything outside that is illegal.’’
On who owns the meter after payment, the JEDC spokesman explained that the meter was a contract between the PHCN and the structure in which the customer was living and not the individual.
``What the customers pay for is not the meter but the cost of taking the service from PHCN, which is why the meter is not mobile.
``For example, if a landlord sells a structure to another owner, PHCN will continue operations with the new owner because the meter is meant for the building and not an individual.''
Rafee announced that the company had installed 29,000 prepaid meters out of the average population of 312,000 customers in the zone since the take-off of the new metering system in 2008.
``We have yet to commence the use of prepaid meters in Benue, some parts of Bauchi State, Plateau South and a reasonable part of Gombe, which are under the coverage of the JEDC,'' he said.
He explained that the delay in the installation of the meters after payment was because of the collation process which preceded the placement of order for the meters from the manufacturing companies.
``We don't produce the meters, we order for them from the manufacturers and that is done based on the number of customers who have paid for them.
``If we take delivery for the ones we have paid for, somebody pays for another immediately, the customer would have to wait for more people to pay because we can only order for the meters in bulk.''
Corroborating the stance of the Jos zone, the PHCN in Akwa Ibom also said customers could not clay claim of ownership of the prepaid meters installed in their houses or business premises.
The Uyo Business Unit Manager, Mr Chukwuemeka Otiji, told NAN that the prepaid meters were the property of the PHCN and that customers were only allowed access to use them in their homes or business premises on the payment of the approved charges.
He, however, said that customers were expected to protect the meters against vandalism or theft.
In case of theft, Otiji said the customers were responsible for replacing the meters.
The business manager said that out of the 33,000 electricity consumers in the Uyo Business Unit, only 1,780 customers had the prepaid meters installed in their homes or business premises.
He attributed the difficulty in accessing the meters to the contractors handling their supply.
Otiji explained that customers were usually allowed access to the meters after the inspection of their buildings and the transformer in the area where the service was needed.
``If the transformer cannot accommodate the customer, the meter will not be installed for such a person.
``Another requirement is that the wiring of the house or business premises must be certified by a licensed electrical contractor.''
In Delta, Mr Edwim Okwara, the Business Manager, PHCN Asaba District Office, said more than 6,000 prepaid meters had been installed in the district this year.
He told NAN that the meters were readily available for installation as soon as payment was made.
``We have so far installed more than 6,000 prepaid meters in the Asaba Business District from January to date.
``Initially, customers who paid for the meters were discouraged because they had to wait a longer time.
``But the period of waiting has gone as the stock is readily available and can be installed within one month at the residences of those who met the conditions.''
Okwara said most customers preferred the analogue to the prepaid meter because it was cheaper and rugged.
He said the district had embarked on the sensitisation of consumers in the area on the need to use the prepaid meter instead of the analogue unit.
``The system is becoming digitised everyday and we believe that the situation will gradually change and consumers will embrace the prepaid meter.''
Meanwhile, some electricity consumers told NAN that they preferred the analogue to the prepaid meter because they lived in rented apartments with a common meter servicing the entire tenants.
Mrs Patience Okocha, a resident of Asaba, said she would have preferred a prepaid meter if she was living alone and had full control of the facility.
``It is discouraging when you have to operate a prepaid meter in a rented apartment where many tenants are connected to one meter.
``I will not subscribe to that because you can't have full control over its usage.''
Mr Peter Onochei, another electricity consumer in Asaba, said he had been saved from the problem of disconnection since he installed the prepaid meter in his apartment.
``Now I am in control, I can manage my electricity the way I like. When I was on analogue, I spent more on PHCN bills than now.''
In Jigawa, the PHCN said it had installed prepaid meters in 1,000 residential houses in the state capital.
The Business Manager of the company in the state, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim, told NAN in Dutse that the meters would be extended to the local government areas.
He said payments for the three categories of meter were spread over a period of 18 months and explained that the electronic facility had some advantages, one of which is that customers pay exactly what they consume.
``The meter will also help beneficiaries plan well in advance on how much electricity they want to consume within a period of time.''
In Rivers, the Electricity Distribution Company (EDC) in Port Harcourt said it was planning to repair faulty prepaid meters under its jurisdiction comprising Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers.
A source close to the company told NAN in Port Harcourt that some of the installed meters had developed fault due to the weather in the concerned states.
The source said the meters were not assembled in Nigeria and that on installation, the temperature in some of the states affected them.
``For now, we are replacing the faulty prepaid meters while new requests will be attended to when we are through with the exercise.''
The source said many requests for new prepaid meters had been received by the company, noting that customers who had paid for them should await installation.
The source said many requests for new prepaid meters had been received by the company, noting that customers who had paid for them should await installation.
However, in Kaduna State, the PHCN attributed inaccessibility to prepaid meters to high demand by customers.
Its Public Relation Officer, Barnawa Business Unit, Malam Bala Shuaibu, told NAN that PHCN contractors had not been able to meet the increasing demand for the meters.
Shuaibu said that customers wishing to change from analogue to prepaid meters should apply for separation, attaching old PHCN bills.
He said the company had installed around 46,500 prepaid meters in Kaduna since the take-off of the programme in 2007.
Similarly, he said the company had approved for delivery some 6,500 meters and another 3,000 meters for distribution to customers in the Kaduna, Sokoto and Doka business units.
In Abia, the PHCN has advised its customers to withhold payment for prepaid meters, as the units have yet to arrive in the state.
Mr Vincent Ekwekwu, the PHCN Business Manager, Umuahia Business Unit, gave the advice in an interview with NAN in Umuahia.
``Many customers have expressed their interest to acquire the new prepaid meters, but the correct situation is that the
meters have yet to be supplied to PHCN in the state.
``Those seeking to procure the prepaid meters should hold on until the equipment is supplied to us.
``It is only when we have them in stock that we will know the amount customers are expected to pay,'' he said.
``Many customers have expressed their interest to acquire the new prepaid meters, but the correct situation is that the
meters have yet to be supplied to PHCN in the state.
``Those seeking to procure the prepaid meters should hold on until the equipment is supplied to us.
``It is only when we have them in stock that we will know the amount customers are expected to pay,'' he said.
The business manager said the information available to his office showed that the new meters were being supplied to PHCN units across the country in batches, noting that any time they got to Abia, the public would be appropriately informed.
Ekwekwu advised consumers not to pay additional money besides the official charges for the meters, saying the measure would check sharp practices by fraudsters using the name of the company to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
On the persistent poor power supply experienced by PHCN customers in Umuahia and its environs, he attributed the problem to obsolete facilities feeding Umuahia from the Aba Transmission Station.
``The 33kV line connecting Umuahia from Aba Transmission Station was installed in 1951. The poles and other conductors always develop a problem; that is why PHCN has difficulty in serving its customers in Umuahia.''
Ekwekwu told NAN that the company had started to replace the faulty components and hoped to complete the project before December.
``A new line we are running from the PHCN Transmission Station, Alaoji-Aba, has reached Ohia, Umuahia.
``What we are trying to do now is to evacuate power supply to Ohia and before December, the power problem in Umuahia will be over,'' he said.
Ekwekwu advised consumers not to pay additional money besides the official charges for the meters, saying the measure would check sharp practices by fraudsters using the name of the company to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
On the persistent poor power supply experienced by PHCN customers in Umuahia and its environs, he attributed the problem to obsolete facilities feeding Umuahia from the Aba Transmission Station.
``The 33kV line connecting Umuahia from Aba Transmission Station was installed in 1951. The poles and other conductors always develop a problem; that is why PHCN has difficulty in serving its customers in Umuahia.''
Ekwekwu told NAN that the company had started to replace the faulty components and hoped to complete the project before December.
``A new line we are running from the PHCN Transmission Station, Alaoji-Aba, has reached Ohia, Umuahia.
``What we are trying to do now is to evacuate power supply to Ohia and before December, the power problem in Umuahia will be over,'' he said.
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