A TOTAL of 251,007 electricity customers made complaints against power distribution companies between April and June last year in protest against estimated billing, lack of meters, and service interruption, among others.
Also, an analysis of data from the just-released second quarter 2022 report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and its first quarter 2022 report, showed a marginal reduction in the number of unmetered power consumers across the country.
Figures from the reports indicated that unmetered power users dropped from 7,802,427 in the first quarter of last year to 7,744,909 in the second quarter, indicating a reduction of 57,518.
Providing updates on customer complaints in the latest second quarter report, the NERC said, “In 2022/Q2, cumulatively, the Discos received 251,007 complaints from consumers – this is 7,620 (+3.13 per cent) more complaints than those received in 2022/Q1.”
The commission pointed out that “metering, billing, and service interruption were the prevalent sources of customer complaints, accounting for more than 72 per cent of the total complaints during the quarter.”
It added, “The commission has introduced initiatives to address this category of complaints such as the independent verification of Discos compliance with the capping regulation that protects unmetered customers from over-billing.”
The power sector regulator, however, stated that the Discos resolved 231,905 complaints during the review period, corresponding to a 92.39 per cent resolution rate.
On metering in the second quarter of last year, the commission said, “The huge metering gap for end-use customers remains a key challenge in the industry – it is estimated that of the 12,643,630 registered energy customers as at June 2022, only 4,898,721 (38.74 per cent) have been metered.
“A total of 167,956 meters were installed in 2022/Q2 compared to the 85,510 meters installed in 2022/Q1. By comparison, the net metering rate increased from 37.79 per cent metering in March 2022 to 38.74 per cent in June 2022.
“The meter installations increased compared to 2022/Q1 despite the winding down of the National Mass Metering Program phase 02 as a result of the uptake of the Meter Asset Provider metering scheme by most Discos.”
