Prepare for electricity tariff hike — EKEDC tells customers

The management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) yesterday told consumers within its franchise network to prepare for adjustment in electricity tariffs.

Mr Oladele Amoda, Chief Executive Officer of EKEDC disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting with electricity consumers from the 11 Business Units in Lagos.

The meeting was called based on the directive of the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, who mandated the distribution companies to consult with the consumers in establishing the new tariff regulation.

The NERC boss had noted that whatever tariff the companies propose, would still be subjected to the approval of the commission.

Meanwhile, Amoda at the meeting yesterday, noted that EKEDC had embarked on several activities to mitigate the challenges and improve the quality of service to consumers.

According to him, “We are working assiduously to explore other sources of power supply.

Presently, the only source of bulk power is from the National Grid (NG) which is grossly inadequate, inefficient and unreliable.

“We understand the plight of our consumers and commenced a process which will augment the power we are currently allocated from the National Grid.

“EKEDC targets about 700 Megawatts through our Embedded Independent Power Projects (EIPPs) and bilateral agreement with existing merchant generators,” he said.

Amoda however revealed that the company had earmarked a CAPEX investment of 250 million US dollars, about N50 billion, in the next five years to deal with all the issues.

He also noted that more than N10 billion was expended on the projects to buttress their commitment to network and system improvement.

He disclosed that the company had developed a robust metering plan, which if approved by NERC would enable them to step-up installation activities in the next few years.

“The metering plan will be rolled out in phases until all consumers in the zone have functional meters.

These meters with new technical features, multi-functional and tamper proof will cost the company N52 billion.