The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) is to refund over N11 billion to customers in the South-East region being the sum it over-billed them between January and September 2023.
This was contained in an order by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which insisted that the EEDC over-billed 1,011,402 customers within the period through over estimation.
At the billing cycle for energy consumed in February 2024, NERC said that EEDC shall credit the accounts of all customers that were over-billed between January and September 2023 based on the Commission’s assessment as contained in Schedule 1.
The commission lamented that the persistent non-compliance with the order on capping of estimated bills by the EEDC for the period, had led to widespread customer dissatisfaction, which had aggravated customer apathy to pay their bills, thereby contributing to the liquidity issues in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
According to a performance review done by the NERC within the period under review, the EEDC failed to comply with the monthly caps as estimated bills approved by the commission.
“Upon completion of the review, the commission issued an RD, stipulating a 14-day compliance deadline, which expired in August 2023.
“The RD also notified EEDC that further regulatory actions shall be taken in accordance with the KPI Order for subsequent non-compliance. The continuous failure of EEDC to adhere to the commission’s monthly caps for estimated billing has led to a significant over-billing of customers,” the NERC noted.
While outlining the monthly over-billings, the NERC noted that 203,375 customers were over-billed N1,933,495,624 in September; 188,298 customers were over-billed N1,745,269,356 in August, while 169,867 customers were over-billed N1,700,205,554 in July, among others.
The commission ordered as follows: “At the billing cycle for energy consumed in February 2024, EEDC shall reconcile the accounts and issue credit adjustments for all customers that were over-billed between January and September 2023 based on the commission’s assessment as contained in Schedule 1.
