LAGOSIANS PAYING MORE FOR PHCN DARKNESS

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) last year hiked electricity tariff as part of reforms in the power sector. The impact of the tariff increase has continued to put Lagosians on edge, especially when PHCN’s discredited estimated billing system is added. Blueprint captures Lagosians’ grouse over estimated bills

Since the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a new electricity tariff in the country, residents of Lagos State have been finding it difficult to cope with the estimated billing system of Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

Investigations by Blueprint in Lagos metropolis showed that workers of PHCN often prefer using estimated bills to reading consumers’ meters.

Under the new regime of tariffs, houses that have one-phase metre at the end of the month pay as much as N10,000 while those that have three-phase pay more than N17,000 depending on the location.

The estimated billing system adopted by PHCN has affected many business operations as most consumers who cannot pay the bills get disconnected and are forced to depend on generating sets for power supply.

Some consumers who described the new estimated billing regime as a way of compelling people to pay more for darkness said that things would have been better if PHCN allowed consumers to pay bills commensurate with their consumption.

Commenting on the estimated billing system, Mr. Obioma Okafor, a cosmetics dealer, said despite the increase in electricity tariff, power supply has not improved. He accused PHCN workers of being too lazy to read metres. According to him, “all the PHCN workers do now is to sit down in the office to produce estimated bills and distribute to the consumers.

“At times I wonder how a man living in a single room without an air conditioner will accumulate a bill of N9, 000 to N10,000 every month. It shows that things are not working well, something is wrong somewhere,” he added.

Another consumer, Mr.Tajudeen Adewale, a welder in Ikeja, was full of complaints over the current tariff and the perennial blackout in his area.

“Despite increase in tariff I hardly enjoy three hours of stable electricity in my shop in a day. I now rely on generator to continue with my business but at the end of the day PHCN workers will still give me estimated bills.”

Sharing his experience, Mr. Kenneth Ibeabuchi said that his meter got burnt on December 29, 2012 and it was reported to the PHCN office, “but to my greatest surprise I received an estimated bill of N17, 000 for just that period.”

He said it was very painful when consumers had such challenges and there was nobody to report to.

Another consumer, Mrs Chinyere Obiora, a teacher who lives in Oshodi, told Blueprint that in the last five months her meter had been placed under estimated billing system.

She said that “whether there was power supply or not, our monthly bills range between N11,000 and N15,000,” adding that the lowest bills she paid in last five months was N11,000.

Mrs.Obiora, who complained over the PHCN inability to do proper billing at the end of the month, said between January 21 and 25, there was blackout in their area. She lamented that at the end of the month residents in the area would pay huge amounts of money as estimated bills.

“The most painful thing is that my metre is working very well yet the officials of PHCN abandoned their duty of reading the metre, but continue to send estimated bills to me.”

The National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASMEs) recently called for a review of the new Multi Year Tariff (MYTO) system, describing it as a disincentive to small businesses struggling to thrive in the harsh economic environment of the country.

According to the Executive Secretary, NASME, Mr Eke Ubiji, during a policy dialogue with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the effect of the MYTO II policy on MSMEs in Nigeria, SME operators have experienced increases ranging from 70 to 440 per cent in their monthly electricity tariff, adding that on the average, manufacturing SMEs have experienced an increase of 188.6 per cent in electricity tariff since the introduction of MYTO II.

He said the survey was initiated by NAMSE following several complaints received from members about the high cost implication of the new tariff.

“Also, more businesses have increased their average spending on electricity from between 10 per cent to 20 per cent of total operating costs before June 2012 and from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of total operating costs after June 2012. There has also been an increase from 11 per cent to 18 per cent on the average spent on electricity as a percentage of their operating cost since June 2012.

“In the medium to long term future, NASME recommended that the fixed charge is completely eliminated and all charges become variable based on consumption,” he stated.

He explained that this would ensure that its members only pay for what they consume and ultimately encourage energy conservation in the nation.

Ubiji said NASME wants the restructuring to include creation of complaint channels in distribution firms to enable service providers to respond to complaints.

Culled from Blueprint