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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
BEDC Electricity Plc on Thursday refuted the claim that the company is bent on marginalising its Edo State electricity consumers.
The company’s Head, Branding and Corporate Communications, Mrs Evelyn Gbiwen, refuted the claim in a statement made available to journalists in Benin.
Recall that an Edo People Against the Oppressive Tendencies of BEDC had earlier accused the company of marginalising its customers in the state and consequently gave it two weeks to improve on its service delivery to the people or face mass unrest.
Mrs Gbiwen, while setting the record straight, said the epileptic power supply is not deliberate but a direct consequence of power allocation from the national grid.
According to Gbiwen, “BEDC Electricity Plc wishes to sincerely update our esteemed customers on the power supply experienced across our franchise States.
“The Company noted the reduction in the quality of the electricity supply which has impacted on households, businesses, healthcare facilities and socio-economic activities within our franchise areas.
“It is important to clarify that the present outage and load shedding being experienced are not deliberate actions by BEDC, but a direct consequence of power allocation from the national grid”,
The company’s Head, Branding and Corporate Communications, said they are collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure improved services to all their customers within the shortest possible time.
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She added that BEDC has experienced a reduction in the power allocation from the national grid, which has necessitated careful load management and distribution to all categories of customers in line with the service level agreement across service bands.
She said, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the situation is not targeted at oppressing its esteemed customers in Edo State or any part of its network.
She maintained that, historically and presently, Edo State accounts for a large portion of BEDC’s total daily energy allocation, which is distributed to customers in Edo State across BEDC’s three regions.
She pointed out that the current supply challenge is a national phenomenon affecting distribution companies nationwide, arising from grid constraints beyond the control of BEDC and that, as part of its commitment to service improvement and transparency, the company continues to intensify its metering drive to eliminate estimated billing and enhance customer confidence, especially in daily load management occasioned by low energy allocation.
According to her, “Presently, there are three metering schemes available to customers: Meter Asset Provider (MAP), Meter Asset Fund (MAF) and Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) meters.
“Both the MAF and DISREP schemes are completely free for customers under Bands A, B and C across the four states of our operations.
“These efforts are aimed at improving billing accuracy, enhancing accountability, and strengthening customer trust in our operations.
“We encourage customers to report any person requesting money to install the free meters through our various channels.
“The Management of BEDC remains committed to transparent communication with stakeholders, fair and equitable energy distribution, aggressive metering rollout, protection of power infrastructure and continuous engagement with all stakeholders.
“We appreciate the patience, understanding and cooperation of our customers and assure the public that every effort is being made within our operational capacity to mitigate the impact of the current supply shortage.”
