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The Management of the Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) has decried the increasing rate at which some of its customers engage in acts of energy theft, especially meter bypass.
This development has consistently impacted negatively on the revenue of the company and ultimately its ability to meet up with its obligations to the Market Operators.
The Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, while expressing concern over this development in Enugu at the weekend recounted the recent apprehension of one of the company’s Maximum Demand customers by its Task Force team, for involving in meter bypass.
The customer, identified as Nkemjika Industry Limited, totally bypassed the meter installed in its facility and directly connected the armoured cables from the mains to the factory, a situation that kept the meter idle while the customer was busy consuming energy.
It was gathered that the customer, now a third time offender in meter bypass, is in the habit of downing tools during the day (giving the impression of low business activity) only to resume full operations at night when EEDC officials must have all closed for the day. Luck, however ran out on them when they were busted and caught in the act by the Task Force. Ezeh lamented at the increasing rate at which the company’s high energy consuming customers are engaging in this act of sabotage, stressing that there is need to nip this in the board. According to the company’s spokesperson, one of their customers identified as Princess Guest House, based at Ikenegbu Extension, Owerri, has been apprehended the fourth time for engaging in meter tampering and illegal reconnection.
