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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Mr. Kunle Adio, lives in the Lekki area of Lagos and occupies a three-bedroom flat. Recently, he noticed that his monthly electricity bill had risen from N10, 000 to N20,000, even without the commensurate supply to justify such an increase.
Adio was so furious that he had to contact a friend who is a lawyer to sue the management of the electricity distribution company covering his neigbourhood. The legal practitioner advised him to write a protest letter to the Disco to correct the anomaly, but two months after, the problem had yet to abate.
Adio said he leaves home very early and returned around 10pm in the evening, while on weekends he attends lectures at the Pan Atlantic University for a Masters Programme.
But upon careful investigation, Adio discovered that the transformer serving his neighborhood had been compromised. Some houses in the community had tapped electricity illegally and were enjoying electricity supply without paying bills.
The implication of this was that, the quantum of energy coming into that community would be shared among other consumers , especially those without meters.
Besides, he discovered that the younger brother was also in the habit of switching on the three air conditioners at the same time, ditto for the electrical bulbs that were not needed during day time.
The case of Ayodele is just one of the numerous across the country where energy wastage coupled with theft has become the order of the day.
Indeed, the recent disclosure by the Executive Director , Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigeria Electricity Distribution (ANED), Mr. Sunday Oduntan, that Ministries Departments and Agencies(MDAs),including Federal, State and Local Governments owe EDAN members about N93 billion in electricity debts is mind boggling.
Beyond the N93 billion power debt, Oduntan equally told Daily Sun, in a telephone discussion that over N100 billion is being owed EDAN by residential and industrial consumers, bringing the accumulated debt profile to N193billion.
Based on the foregoing, he said the Discos have recorded a separate N300 billion in revenue shortfall, and is still growing.
‘‘This is a cash liquidity crisis that threatens to completely undermine the electricity value chain and its ability to continue to serve its consumers,’’ he said.
Oduntan disclosed further that the revenue shortfalls adversely impact the ability of the Discos to make capital investments in metering, network expansion, equipment rehabilitation and replacement, critical for service delivery equipment.
But beyond the challenge of the mounting debt bill, electricity consumers have constantly complained of being slammed with huge bills, which, most time they claimed was not their actual consumption.
But, stakeholders have identified energy inefficiency as a culprit, which is partly responsible for the rising debt profile of electricity bills of MDAs, residential and industrial users, adding that Nigerians under the new electricity tariff structure may have no other choice than to change their energy consumption pattern.
Understanding energy efficiency
Under the new power tariff regime, which took effect February 1, 2016, electricity consumers in R2 class, said to be under residential, will payN24.30 per kilowatt in Abuja; Benin-N24.08; Enugu-N27.13; Ibadan -N23.09; Jos- N26.93; Kaduna – N27.36 and N28.05 (in single phase and three phases); Kano – N20.26 and N26.41; Ikeja – N21.30 and N21.80; Port Harcourt –N24.91; Eko- N24.00 and 25.79; Yola –N23.25 and N24.75 per kilowatt.
Meanwhile, residential customers under R2 class within Abuja Electricity Distribution Company will no longer pay N702.00 fixed charge every month; instead, their charge will increase by N9.60kwh.
The residential customers in R2 category within Eko and Ikeja Electricity Distribution zones will no longer pay N750. 00 fixed charges. They will pay N10kwh and N8kwh increase in their energy charges.
The burden of N800.00 and N750.00 fixed charges will be removed from Kaduna and Benin electricity consumers, while they will get an increase of N11.05kwh and N9.26kwh in their energy charges.
The commercial consumers in C2 category in Ibadan and Enugu will no longer pay fixed charges of N17, 010. 00 and N22,141. 00; instead their energy charge will increase by N12.08kwh and N13.35kwh.
Do you know in practical terms,we are paying more than we actually consume.Not because of estimated billing, but due to energy wastage?
According to the energy auditors, we can easily save between 5 and 10 percent of our energy consumption (and costs) by changing our behavior such as switching electrical equipment off at the mains rather than leaving it on standby, turning off lights when they’re not being used
Saving Electrical energy will directly reflect to saving money so it is very necessary to understood what is paid per kilowatt hour, which has already been explained earlier under the new tariff regime
The major appliances in homes — refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers — account for a big chunk of monthly utility bill. And if refrigerator or washing machine is more than a decade old, one is spending a lot more on energy than is needed.
Today’s major appliances don’t hog energy the way older models do because they must meet minimum energy efficiency standards as prescribed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO). These standards have been tightened over the years, so any new appliance bought recently has to use less energy than the model being replaced. For instance, if you buy one of today’s most energy-efficient refrigerators, it will use less than half the energy of a model that’s 12 years old or older.
Nigeria scenario
An energy expert and Chief Operating Officer, Powtech Power International Limited, Mr. Reginald Ifionu,said recently that if the electricity supply in the country is efficiently managed and utilized, Nigeria can save $1 billion from efficient use of energy.
Ifionu, said that it costs about $1 million to build a megawatt of electricity. “At the country’s current generating capacity of less than 4,000 megawatts, MW, and the ability of ES-25 to save energy by 25 percent, the country will be saving at least $1 billion from energy efficiency,” he said.
According to him, the energy saving equipment is meant to regulate energy consumption, especially as the country is yet to achieve regular power supply one after privatization. “The ES-25 is a high efficiency voltage controller installed in series after the electricity meter has been installed to optimize energy levels by reducing the wasteful energy and convert the same into direct savings. “Energy bills are steeply rising and there is an urgency of usage of various energy conservation retrofits to save energy on different electrical equipment available at home.
The best technique available is to install ES-25 energy savers, which will reduce the energy bills up to 25 percent,” he added.
Also corroboetaing the claims of Ifionu, the Managing Consultant/Chief Executive Officer of Powtech, Mr. Goody Duru-Oguzie, said the technology is designed to benefit private, public and industrial concerns. “It is a win-win situation. The industry wins. The country wins. The populace wins. It is a high efficiency energy saving optimizer which has the capacity to optimize voltage to a desired level and improve the power factor with a low loss impedance technology resulting in eliminating wasteful energy and converting the same into direct electricity savings,” he said.
Tips on how to avoid estimated bills
The only way to avoid estimated bills is for consumers to insist on being metered. But unfortunately, more than 10 million electricity users don’t have access to meters.
On the other hand, the huge capital outlay required to meter every household in Nigeria is not available at the disposal of the Discos
In June, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) directed customers not provided with meters to stop paying estimated bills presented by distribution companies. The commission also directed the companies not to disconnect such customers .
It advised such customers to report to the commission, if disconnected.
At least once every month, meter readers need to access electricity meter to obtain an actual reading. These visits are important because they help Discos to bill consumers correctly and on time.
In doing their jobs, meter readers sometimes face threats from aggressive dogs and the challenges of locked gates and doorways, which can prevent safe access to your meter.
Consumers are advised to provide a clear and unobstructed path to electricity meter. Ensure that all walkways and areas around meters are uncluttered and easily accessible. Ensure that dogs are securely restrained. Even the friendliest dog can become aggressive, threatening meter readers and other service staff.
If there is an electricity meter enclosed within the home, make arrangements with your electrician to relocate it to the exterior of your building.
However, in some instances, meters are placed on code, meaning the meter is malfunctioning. For this period, consumers are placed on estimation, pending when the fault is resolved.
Under this scenario, consumers complain on being over billed for the period of time they would be on estimation. The best thing to do under this situation is to ensure, that a letter is written to the Business Unit covering such area, stating clearly what the complaints and following up to ensure that the fault is quickly resolved as soon as possible otherwise the period of estimation will be prolonged than necessary.
For others, the complaint is that, meter readers do not care to visit to take meter readings, under this situation, consumers are advised to forward their meter readings to the marketer in charge of the area. But this should be done with sincerity so that the integrity of the reading sent will not be in doubt.
Court jails DisCo managers over estimated bills
The Anambra High Court in Onitsha, recently sentenced the manager and marketing manager of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo), for three months imprisonment over crazy bills.
The managers were sued by the leaders of the Iweka electronic amalgamated traders association, Onitsha over the disconnection of electricity supply to them.
It was alleged that the DisCo gave N2 million estimated bill to the traders before disconnecting them from electricity supply.
After oral submissions of both counsel, the court made an interim order of injunction.
Justice Ike Obu of Anambra High Court described the EEDC managers act as crass of impunity after he convicted the managers, sentencing them to three months imprisonment without the option of fine.
The way out
Former Senior Associate/Team Leader of the Energy Practice Group of Banwo Ighodalo and Associates, now Partner, Bloomfield Law Practice, Mr. Ayodele Oni, explained that with increasing electricity tariffs, consumers do now need to consider a more budget friendly energy consumption pattern.
