Electricity consumers in Ebonyi State, southeast Nigeria have expressed worry over the new metering scheme introduced in the state by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC.
The EEDC had in March 2021, commenced mass distribution and installation of free post paid meters in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, in an apparent move to address the widened metering gap in the area.
But, some beneficiaries who spoke to ait.live say the estimated regime has gone from bad to worse following the installation of the new meters.
Benedicta Onuegbu, a secondary school teacher, said her domestic bill has increased arbitrarily.
The teacher who looked worried while talking to ait.live,on the balcony of her house where she was shelling melon seeds said they did not bargain for the bill EEDC is giving them.
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“We were using this old meter before they brought this one. When I asked if this the new prepaid meter, they said yes. So, I was happy that day, I said wow, people were getting this meter with a very big money o, but this time around they said they’re giving it free of charge. I was happy that day to the extent that I gave the boy that installed it one thousand naira.
“Immediately the boy finished installing it, I started using it. I would off everything thinking that this is a pre-paid meter. So, when the month came to an end, they brought a bill here, and the bill was Nineteen thousand something, I started shouting.”
Onuegbu is not alone in this situation, as ait.live investigation reveals that the Mojec post-paid electricity meter recently distributed by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC is not what their customers bargained for.
When contacted, the spokesman of EEDC, Emeka Eze, said manufacturers stopped the production of pre-paid meters because of the Covid-19 pandemic hence the installation of post-paid meters.
It will be recalled that in a bid to put an end to the problems of the estimated electricity billing system, the Federal Government in 2020 launched the National Mass Metering Programme with the target of distributing 30-million meters to underserved communities.
(Editor: Abaje Usekwe)
