BEDC receives 75,000 Federal Govt’s free meters
Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) said it has received 75,000 meters from the Federal Government under its free metering programme for its four franchise states. It said it allocated 38,000
Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) said it has received 75,000 meters from the Federal Government under its free metering programme for its four franchise states.
It said it allocated 38,000 of the free meters to its three regions, namely Benin, Uromi and Auchi in Edo State.
The state government said it remained committed to establishing a meter assembly plant.
Commissioner for Power, Paul Usenbor, who spoke at a stakeholders’ engagement on power, said the priority of Governor Monday Okpebholo was the provision of 24-hour power supply across the state.
He said the engagement had shown strong commitment for stronger infrastructure, for better service, for more standardised metering and faster response to services.
“On the long term, our expectation is to have better power supply for our citizens and public institutions.
“The long term is more participation of private sector partners that are coming into the state. His Excellency has mandated that metering assembly will be done in Edo State.”
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of BEDC Electricity PLC, Jonathan Lawani, disclosed this at a one day stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Benin City.
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Lawani, an engineer, said 161,000 meters were being expected from the Federal Government for BEDC.
He cautioned customers against paying for the meters or their installation.
He, however, raised the alarm that customers were rejecting the meters on the assumption that they consumed more electricity.
According to him, “we have received 75,000 meters for BEDC for the four states, namely Ondo, Edo, Delta and Ekiti. The programme is going to be 161,000 meters for BEDC. Edo State alone has gotten over 38,000 meters allocated because we serve four states. Out of the four states, we allocated 38,000 meters to the three regions in Edo State and installation is ongoing.
“These meters come at no cost to the customers. We have channels of escalating any complaint. We will not hesitate to instil discipline among our people. In Auchi, we arrested an installer who charged money to install a meter.
“These new meters do not consume electricity as being speculated. They are programmed to perform optimally. They have been certified. We are advising our customers to imbibe the culture of energy management. Do not put on your light when you don’t need them. Try to manage your energy and the meter will not run fast. They are good meters that have been certified. We observe that people are rejecting and insulting our installers.”
On electricity theft, the BEDC boss urged customers not to tamper with meters, even as he vowed that offenders would be punished.
