How Consumers Lamented As Electricity Meter Prices Rise

 The cost of a single-phase electricity meter has risen to over N130,000 from N88,000 in the first quarter of this year.

This is the second time the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission would approve an increase in the prices of prepaid meters.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the price of a single-phase meter ranged from N130,000 to N139,000, while a three-phase meter was sold between N219,000 and N229,000, depending on the vendor.

This is just as some consumers who have yet to be metered continued to lament high estimated billing from their Electricity Distribution Companies.

The consumers on direct connection lamented that they receive estimated billings every month, stating that the amount being charged by DisCos is not usually commensurable to the units of energy they used.

A single-phase smart meter was sold at N106,802.69 while the three-phase smart meter rose from N154,600 in May this year to goes for N210,751.61.

According to some of the electricity distribution companies who spoke to our correspondent, DisCos no longer have control over meter sales, stating that the customers deal directly with the meter asset provider, who is mandated to supply the meter within 10 working days after payment.

The Chief Executive Officer of Femadec Group, Fola Akinola, recently said meter application portals were shut in April because the vendors and the DisCos were regularising prices to reflect the current economic realities.

“In a situation where you fixed the price of meters when $1 was around N500, and now that $1 is over N1,300, you cannot sell the ones you have because you will not be able to replace them. People cannot bring in meters because of the exchange rate,” he stated.

Consumers kick

In an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, the Executive Director of the Electricity Consumers Protection and Advocacy Centre, Princewill Okorie, wondered why NERC would approve another meter price increase at a time the consumers are still struggling with the Band A tariff hike.

According to Okorie, Discos, aided by NERC, have been extorting Nigerians by failing to abide by the MAP policy which stipulated that consumers should get energy credit as a refund for meters paid for.

“The MAP scheme policy says that if a consumer pays for a meter, he should get a refund through energy credit. How many consumers have been paid back?

“Why will this sector be only about collecting money from the consumers without service delivery, transparency and accountability? This is because nobody punishes or monitors the Discos. It still boils down to the consumer aspect of the sector not being taken seriously.

The consumer rights activist disclosed that during the 2022 tariff hike, NERC had approved for DisCos that for every bill a consumer pays, a certain percentage should be for the Meter Acquisition Fund.

In June this year, the Federal Government approved N21bn under the Presidential Metering Initiative to provide meters to unmetered customers at no cost.

Consumers are asking how the N21bn Mater Acquisition Funds allocated to the DisCos were spent.

NERC spokesman, Usman Arabi, could not be reached at the time of filing this report.

An official of the commission who spoke on anonymity told our correspondent that customers are not to pay for meters under this initiative

Asked if this would not amount to discriminating against those who have been paying for meters for all these years, the NERC official retorted, “Those people are supposed to be refunded by the DisCos through energy credit and the commission is following up on the compliance.”

How Consumers Lamented As Electricity Meter Prices Rise

Another source told our correspondent that the MAF meters are for Band A customers only.

“The Phase 1 MAF meters will be given to Band A customers for free. It will eventually go round to other customer classes”, said the source.

However, our correspondent observed that the metering gap is still as high as seven million of the 13 million electricity customers.

The Executive Director of Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, told our correspondent that the meter policy has changed, saying DisCos no longer have control over meter sales.

Electricity Tariff: Ikeja Electric Slashes Electricity Tariff For Customers

 AgegePulse Magazine

The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) has downwardly reviewed and slashed the tariff to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour from the previously approved N225/kWh by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

According to the spokesperson, IKEDC,  Olufadeke Omo-Omorodion, conveyed this information in a notice on Monday.

In the notice, the IKEDC outlined that the revised tariff for Band A customers would come into effect from Monday, May 6, 2024. While assuring a minimum of 20-hour daily power supply for customers on Band A feeders, the DisCo clarified that the tariffs for customers on other bands remain unchanged.

"Dear Esteemed Customers, please be informed of the downward tariff review of our Band A feeders from N225/kWh to N206.80/kWh effective 6th May 2024 with guaranteed availability of 20-24hrs supply daily. The tariff for Bands B, C, D, and E remains unchanged,” the IKEDC stated.

Previously, on April 3, the NERC had revised the electricity tariff for Band A customers from N68 per kilowatt-hour to N255/KWh, exempting other customers from the tariff hike. However, consumers in the Band A category had expressed dissatisfaction with the increase, urging the Federal Government to reconsider the policy.

In a related development, during an investigative hearing before the Senate Committee on Power last week Monday, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, cautioned that failure to implement the electricity tariff hike could lead to a total blackout in the country within the next three months.

IKEJA ELECTRIC PARTNERS WITH LAWMA FOR SUSTAINABLE WASTE DISPOSAL IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 

AgegePulse Magazine 

To further demonstrate its commitment to building sustainable societies, Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), the leading electricity distribution company in Nigeria, recently partnered with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and made donation of waste bins to eighteen (18) selected primary and secondary schools within its area of coverage.

Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, the MD/CEO, LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin expressed profound appreciation to Ikeja Electric for the initiative, stating that disposal via the waste bins is a critical component of the waste management cycle.

He expressed hope that other establishments within the state will adopt this as part of their corporate social responsibility and follow the noble example demonstrated by Ikeja Electric.
The LAWMA helmsman further mentioned some of the efforts that were being made by the state government which includes the introduction of smart bins, and partnership with the Ministry of Education to incorporate waste management into the school curriculum. This, he believes, with time, will help groom the children to become sustainability-minded individuals.

In his remark, Ikeja Electric's spokesman and Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Kingsley Okotie (MNIPR), noted that the initiative, which was executed with the total support and commitment of the Board and Management of the company in conjunction with the Employee Volunteer Scheme/Give Back Always team of Ikeja Electric as part of our Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility intervention, was developed to promote sustainable waste disposal practices among the younger generation and future leaders.

Furthermore, he opined that a more sustainable waste management approach prioritizes practices such as waste classification; reuse, recycling, and reduction, use of open dumps and incineration. Okotie expressed optimism that the initiative will further embed this consciousness in children as they are educated on the proper use of the donated waste bins and the opportunities inherent in the entire waste to wealth management cycle.
Some of the beneficiary schools include Ayetoro Primary School, Bariga; Ayobo Primary School, Ayobo; Oke-Ira Junior Grammar School, Oke-Ira; Ajao Estate Primary School, Ajao Estate; Ebenezer Primary School 1, Ojokoro, Unity Junior College, Agege, amongst others spread across the company's six business units namely; Ikeja, Shomolu, Oshodi, Akowonjo, Abule-Egba and Ikorodu.
Buoyed by a mission to redefine customer experience and be the provider of choice wherever energy is consumed, Ikeja Electric Plc is committed to powering lives and businesses with innovation and unwavering drive for excellence. This resolve continues to elicit a passion for exceptional service delivery and new thinking across the IE network.

For more information or assistance, please contact our customer service helpdesk via 02017000250, 02012272940; send us email via; customercare@ikejaelectric.com<mailto:customercare@ikejaelectric.com>, visit our website; www.ikejaelectric.com<http://www.ikejaelectric.com>  or via our social media platforms.

Ikeja Electric Spent Over N200Millions To Boosts Infrastructure with Replacement of Faulty Transformer in Ikorodu

AgegePulse Magazine 

Ikeja Electric Spent Over N200Millions To Boosts Infrastructure with Replacement of Faulty Transformer in Ikorodu

Nigeria’s leading Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electric Plc (IE) in its efforts to strengthen critical infrastructure to ensure improved service to its esteemed customers in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos State recently replaced the faulty 15MVA power transformer at Sabo Injection Substation (ISS) with a new one.

According to the Chief Technical Officer, Ikeja Electric, Engr. Olajide Kumapayi, the replacement of the faulty power transformer which costs close to Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N250m), became necessary to ease the menace of poor power supply being experienced by over fifteen thousand customers that are getting supply from the power transformer one (T1) at Sabo Injection Substation before it went bad completely.

He noted that the replacement will increase the availability of supply from the previous three hours to a minimum of twelve hours daily. This would be based on the service band tariff class associated with the feeders.

Engr. Kumapayi stated that nine 11kv feeders were radiated from Sabo Injection Sub-station through the two power transformers which includes Ayangburen, Lasunwon, Lagos Road, Marie, Ladega, Erunwen, Igbogbo, Ijebu-Ode and Eyita communities and environs.

He further explained that the construction of a new Injection Substation at the Lagos State University of Technology (LASUTECH) Ikorodu will commence shortly noting that it will provide one dedicated 11kv feeder for LASUTECH and two additional feeders to relieve Erunwen and Ijebu-Ode 11kv feeders in the Sabo Injection Substation. He assured that these investments will no doubt ensure optimal utilization of the technical assets to guarantee wider access and power availability across all impacted feeders in our resolve to meet the demand of our esteemed customers.

The company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kingsley Okotiew hile expressing IE’s commitment to improved service delivery to her esteemed customers across the entire network coverage area, thanked vigilant customers, community leaders and security operatives who have continued to assist in safeguarding electrical equipment in their neighborhood against theft, vandalism and acts of sabotage as failure to do so will jeopardize concerted efforts of the company from achieving the desired objective of sustainably powering livelihoods, businesses and communities.

Ikeja Electric Resumes Disconnection, Urges Customers to Pay Bills

AgegePulse Magazine

The suspension earlier placed on disconnection of power supply of its customers has been lifted by Ikeja Electric.

On April 1, 2020, Business Post reported that Ikeja Electric announced that it would not be disconnecting electricity of non-paying customers within its franchise network during the 2-week stay-at-home period enforced by federal government to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The move, according to the Acting CEO of Ikeja Electric, Ms Folake Soetan, was to ensure that “our customers enjoy steady and quality supply throughout this difficult period and beyond. We recognize the fact that electricity supply is critical to our ability to stay safe, clean and indoors.”

Last Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that from May 4, 2020, there would be an ease in the 5-week lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States.

In a notice today, Ikeja Electric said following the development, it was lifting the suspension on disconnection activities, urging energy consumers to pay their bills.

The electricity distribution firm said the appeal became necessary because of its need to meet some obligations to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

“As we begin partial lockdown, we use this medium to inform our customers of the need to start paying their bills to avoid power cuts as we have also lifted the suspension of disconnection activities.

“The request is necessitated by the need to meet our obligations to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), as paying your bills will enable us to meet our financial obligation to the market operators and this will ensure that the country continues to generate power supply,” Ikeja Electric said.

While thanking its customers for their “continued understanding and allowing us to serve you,” the company appealed to consumers to “continue to adhere to all the safety rules of personal hygiene and social distancing.”

Ikeja Electric expressed hope that business activities will gradually return to normal with the partial lifting of the lockdown order by the federal government.

It was learnt that throughout the period of the lockdown, Ikeja Electric focused on increasing supply to its customers.

Business post

COVID-19: Ikeja Electric closes offices partially to safeguard customers, staff

… Assures continuous power supply, fault clearing

AgegePulse Magazine

 Ikeja Electric has announced that no physical transaction of business will take place across its offices in its franchise network for the next one week. This partial closure is in line with ongoing efforts nationwide to prevent further spread of the Corona Virus/COVID-19 and protect customers and staff of the Company.

The DisCo said the partial closure, which begins today (Tuesday March 24, 2020), is part of precautionary measures that have become necessary in order to safeguard the health of customers and staff by limiting their exposure to COVID-19.

The spread of the virus, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), is believed to be mainly through person-to-person contact which enables respiratory droplets from infected individuals who exhibit or later show symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, breathing difficulty, fever etc. to be transmitted to other persons.

Meanwhile, the Company has reassured customers that services including supply of electricity to customers, fault clearing, online channels for purchase of energy credits and payment of bills are unaffected by the temporary closure. Customers can continue to make enquiries or complaints to its Customers Care Team via email, live chat or phone calls.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ikeja Electric, Mrs Folake Soetan, noted that the safety and health of employees and members of the public is a priority to the organisation. Therefore, necessary preventive measures have be taken to avoid possible contact and spread of the virus.

According to her: “In line with our Customer First, Technology Now policy, all staff carrying out essential services will continue to deliver services in line with globally accepted safety and health requirements while staff carrying out non-essential services will hereby rely on our remote working channels throughout this period”.

She said, “As a responsible organisation, we hold our customers and staff in high esteem. So, their wellbeing and safety must be prioritized under the circumstance confronting our country and the entire world. The ongoing efforts to control the further spread of the COVID-19 virus is in line with efforts of governments globally to contain the virus.

“At this point, we all need to carefully observe precautionary measures and other safety protocols stipulated by government agencies and health organisations that will protect ourselves and loved ones from the virus. These involve, but not limited to, observing high hygiene by washing our hands often, using sanitizers where soap and water are not available, ensuring social distancing, avoiding handshakes and gatherings, as well as promptly contacting government agencies in the event of close persons displaying symptoms of the virus.

“Earlier in the month, we had set up specific control measures across our offices to ensure customers and staff are protected from possible exposure to the virus by providing sanitizers at the entrances and using hand-held infra-red thermometers to screen customers/visitors and staff. We are keenly following developments across the country and the advice of our government and health institutions as part of concerted efforts to safeguard everyone and to make sure our workplaces remain safe,” she added.

The DisCo noted that throughout this period, customer experience will not be impacted as it continues to deploy technology to provide seamless services and improved customer experience.

Customers can access their bills using the IE ebilling service, which is available viaeservices.ikejaelectric.com or and the IE Mobile app, which can be downloaded on the Android Playstore. By the adoption of this technology, the company have greatly reduced interaction between customers and employees as far as bill distribution and collection matter Customers can also make use of all available online channels to get their required services including making enquiries or complaints, payments of bills or recharge of prepaid meters and escalation of faults.

For complaints or enquiries, customers are advised to contact the Customer Care viacustomercare@ikejaelectric.com or 01-7000250, 09087940825. Other transactions can be done via quick teller, internet banking, mobile App banking, USSD *565*6# and Ikeja Electric website:www.ikejaelectric.com.

According to the DisCo, technical operations such as fault clearing will continue; hence all the field staff must continue to ensure that they are completely kitted for their daily operations.

Customers to get refund for prepaid meters procured under MAP scheme – Ikeja Electric

The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IE) has said it is designing a proposal to refund its customers for prepaid meters procured under the ongoing Meter Assets Provider (MAP) scheme.

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IE’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday.

Ofulue said that the proposal was, however, subject to the approval of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

NAN reports that a customer under the network currently pays N39, 765.86 for a single-phase meter and N72, 085.68 (VAT inclusive) for a three-phase meter.

Ofulue said the refund would either be in discounted tariffs or release of energy usage to cover the amount over a period of time upon approval by NERC.

He said:

“People are not aware that we intend to make this repayment. There are a lot of things that we are putting into considerations.

“The current tariff we have now is actually not cost-reflective but once we agree on a semi-cost reflective tariff, then we are going to discount the tariff for our customers so that they can enjoy the benefit of the scheme.”

Ofulue reiterated that IE currently had enough meters to meet its customers’ demand after the shortage that occurred between August and September 2019.

“During that period, there was an increase of about 35 percent in import duty and our meters were stuck at the port but that had been addressed.

“The scheme had to look for extra funds to clear the meters and so we have enough meters right now,” he said.

According to him, the only challenge faced by the scheme is the survey of the homes of those applying for prepaid meters and that has to be done as quickly as possible.

Ofulue said:

“This industry is a specialized field and you have to get the right equipment and people with the required skills to carry out the services.

“Once a customer is surveyed and advised to make payment, once the payment is made and it is confirmed, the customer will be metered within 10 working days.”

He said that the other problem faced in the installation of prepaid meters was that some customers do not indicate their references in their application form, which delayed the payment confirmation.

Ofulue said their failure to quote their account number or their application reference number would cause a snag in the system until it was resolved by the officials.

“We have always advised that whenever a customer makes payment, he should go back to our platform and upload their payment evidence @financemap/ikeja.com.

“When we have that information, we immediately use that evidence to reconcile your payment and your meter will be installed.

“On the average, each of our vendors – Mojec, New Hampshire and Conlog – installs about 1,500 prepaid meters weekly under the ongoing scheme,” he said.

He said that efforts were on to increase installation to about 3,000 per week.

Ofulue noted that over 60,000 customers had so far been metered under the MAP scheme, saying that IE hoped to meter all its customers by 2022.

Ikeja Electric To Hold Public Consultation On Tariff Review

AgegePulse Magazine

One of Nigerias Electricity Distribution Companies, Ikeja  Electric's sets to hold a public consultation on Extraordinary Tariff Review as mandated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

According to IE, the meeting will hold by next Monday, 24th February, 2019.

Read their message below:

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT


Ikeja Electric cordially invites you to a public consultation on Extraordinary Tariff Review as mandated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)

Venue for General Public is Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Lagos.

Date: Monday, 24th February 2020.
Time: 10:00am

Venue for Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Corporate Bodies and other Professional Associations is Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN HOUSE), 77 Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos.

Date: Tuesday, 25th February 2020.
Time: 10:00am

Tariff increment: Ikeja Electric targets N170bn revenue in 2020

AgegePulse Magazine

Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc says it is a targeting a total revenue of N170 billion in 2020 with the implementation of the increment in various classes of electricity tariff.


The electricity Distribution Company (Disco) says it intends to create a new tariff class called Bilateral for customers it had signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with under a willing-buyer-willing-seller arrangement.

The company gave the projection in its Addendum Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and Application for Extraordinary Tariff Review of Multi Year Tariff Order- 2015 signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Anthony Youdeowei.


A copy of the document, which was addressed to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

The report said the objective of the extraordinary review was to ensure that IE adjusts its tariff in line with the commission’s directive that current average allowed a Disco tariffs shall be grossed-up by 50 per cent from April 1.

“The expected MYTO 2020 and bilateral revenue requirement are N162 billion and N8 billion respectively, to give a total revenue requirement of N170 billion.

“The addition of the bilateral sales revenue requirement further increases the average tariffs to N41.31 per kilowatt in 2020 which is projected to rise to N44.24 in 2024.”

Awori Street, Morkaz, Taiwo Dada, Others To Experience 10 Days BlackOut

AgegePulse Magazine

The management of Ikeja Electric has taken to Twitter in the early hours of today to announce that there will be an interruption of power supply to certain areas under its network for a period of 10 days, due to planned outage that would result from the installation of new 11KV panels at Mangoro Injection Substation to boost the power supply in these areas.

On the official account of the Ikeja Electric Plc, @IkejaElectric, they tweeted:

“Dear Esteemed Customer,
1. This is to notify you that there will be an interruption of power supply to your area between Monday, 6th and Thursday, 16th of January 2020, to enable us install new 11KV panels at Mangoro Injection Substation to boost power supply to your area.”

“2. The outage will affect Onilekere, Sodeke, Onipetesi, Valley View, Santos Layout, Sunday Farm, parts of Dopemu Road, Oniwaya Road and Aluminium Village, Capitol Road, Sule, Arigidi and parts of Sebiotimo Streets.”

“3. Others include Adegbola, Ajakaiye, Ikuomola, Ni Olagoke, Abimbola, Oseni, Markaz, Akinjobi, Taiwo Dada, Owo, Ogunwo, Awori, Abeje, Yekinni and Olagoke Streets.
We solicit your understanding and assure you that power will be fully restored as soon as the work is completed.”

You Can Now Get Meter Activation Token Online, Says Ikeja Electric

AgegePulse Magazine

In line with our core values and objective of improving our customer service delivery, Ikeja Electric has introduced meter activation tokens on its website.

This means all newly metered customers can get their meter activation tokens by visiting http://www.ikejaelectric.com/keychange/ then type in their meter numbers to obtain the tokens.

Simply follow these steps:

Log in to IE portal http://www.ikejaelectric.com/keychange/
Input your meter number.
Click the submit bottom.
Activation token will be displayed instantly.

*This can be done on your phone.

Please note that if a token is not generated for your meter number this means that your meter installation hasn't been certified by our Quality Assurance & Quality Control team.

Power Outage: Ikeja Electric, Egunjobi set to restore power in Agege

#AgegePulse Magazine

Following the breakdown of one of high tension pole in Ijaye road, very close to Council Secretariat, that has put many homes in darkness for days.

The Electricity company, Ikeja Electric and the Executive chairman of Agege LG , Alhaji Ganiyu Egunjobi have set to restorethe  power to residents that got affected by this incident.

AgegePulse gathered that the damaged pole has been replaced with the support of the council boss and will be installed today.

While sympathising with affected residents and business owners in Agege  Egunjobi through his Chief of Staff, Mr. Oriade Saheed Ademola said that, the power would be restore in coming days.

Power Outage in Oko -Oba, Fagba, Agege, Ikeja Electric States Reasons

• Following the power outage in parts of Agege and its environs, Ikeja Electric has appealed to its customers and promised to restore power as soon as it can.

Read their message on their Social media handle:

"Dear Customer,
The prolonged outage you're experiencing is due to loss of supply on Oko-oba 11kV Feeder as a result of a fault on Agege T1 Power Transformer. Affected areas are parts of New Oko-Oba, Fagba, Agege and environ.

TCN is working to clear the fault and once this is done, we can restore supply. Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.".

Ikeja Electric Commences Installation Of 85,000 Pre-Paid Meters

… Collaborates with Community Media to Reach the Communities

In what seem to be a family meeting, the Corporate Communication team of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IE) led by Mr Felix Ofule with Mr Fidelix, Mr Ayeni and others had a maiden edition of media parley with Association of Practitioners of Community Media in Nigeria (APCOM) on Wednesday. The event which took place at the upper room of Yellow Chilies Restaurant and bar had members of the pen industry drawn from nooks and crannies of network coverage of IE.



The head of corporate communications of the energy company Mr Felix Ofulue hinted on the need for the collaboration which in his words, ought to have been held earlier before now but for some logistics. He however noted that it is better late than never while reiterating that having understood the roles of the community media especially for a peculiar outfit such as IE, it is paramount to nurture a forum such as this for mutual benefits.

The aim of the meeting was to partner the community media in disseminating information to their various communities with the understanding of some of the usual challenges faced with customers and ways of achieving possible solutions to them. The issue of pre-paid meter was top on the list as it affects even the men of the pen world. Mr. Ofulue informed the gathering that IE is highly desirous to meter each of its customers; however the prevailing economy has not made it possible for IE to achieve that while noting that prior to the current phase of pre-paid installations of 85,000 meters ongoing IE had invested about thirty million US Dollars on metering her customers before it was halted. He said that the current phase is done through a method of identifying highly revenue zones which will in turn enhance her revenue generation for further investments, while assuring that in the next six months the issue on metering will be drastically reduced in addition with the proposed Meter Asset Providers (MAP) currently been fine tuned for implementation by the federal government. He reiterated the benefits accruing to the company which he said was enormous.




While answering question on why the estimated bills have persisted despite the public outcry, Mr Ofulue hinted that though it is agreeable that the estimated bill system does not reflect the true consumption of customers which can only be solved by metering every customer however IE has reduced the basis of estimation on actual consumption per transformers by installing meters to all the transformers thereby determining the actual consumption within the community using such transformers, he counselled further consumers to help IE in monitoring the consumption within or community and using the appropriate whistle-blower to report such while noting that it is very impossible for IE to carryout consumption assessment on all her customers, hence since the ripple effect of consumption of one customer is borne by all, it is therefore imperative for every consumer to be watchful and report such to IE authorized agent for appropriate investigation and subsequent actions.



Head Corporate Communication Ikeja Electric Driving home his point


On outstanding or inherited bills he enlightened the men of the press that by explaining that the energy sector is broken into different units which include the generation companies (GENCOs) transmission companies (TCNs) Distribution Companies (DISCOs) which IE represents, hence for any consumption the DISCOs earn about 24-25% the GENCOs earn about 50% and so on; therefore it is very difficult for any debt irrespective of who consumed it to be written off by any DISCO, he advised that in the case of rental of an apartment the prospective tenant should demand for the position of energy bill before accepting such, where it is observed that there are outstanding the tenant should demand from the landlord/landlady on how to offset such, on the other it is expedient for landlord/landlady to notify IE of any tenant failing to pay his or her energy bill for disconnection and further actions before such tenants moves.

Mr. Ayeni Akinola added that even in the case of outright purchase of a property, it is important to verify the status of such property before purchase as the bill will always surface at the time of reconnection of the new property which was termed by publisher of The Alimosho Mail as “ancestral bill”. In his (Mr. Felix) word, no bill can be written off by any DISCO once it is issued as it will mean owing the other parties.

Furthermore he used the opportunity to mention of the exclusive customer pilot program which is currently text run with Ikeja GRA, which has seen IE investing more within the axis which has also improved their supply with the effect of paying more. He boasted that power has improved tremendously except for areas with difficulties like lack of payment, threat to life of IE personnel etc.

He reiterated that IE does not tolerate any assault on its staff for any reason as it will plunge such area into darkness without any apology and for the areas with low payment; it will be unwise as a business to continue supplying such area with energy thereby forcing the company to plunge resources from other areas into such areas. While responding on question on ceeding part of their network jurisdiction to private GENCOs (Embedded Power) as the case with Isheri Whitesand and Obadore, he vehemently rejected the possibility of such without proper agreement on the modus operandi.

On why installation of transformer bought by communities sometime become almost impossible to connect to the grid and the possibility of a community retrieving materials bought for the purpose of power supply; he opined that there are due processes, standards and specifications for the purchase of any electrical product; that if any of such is not met it becomes very difficult to effect such connection while stressing that it is impossible for any community to retrieve any appliance from any Disco as there would have been an agreement signed before such is connected.

Ofulue further assured that the engagement will be frequent while reiterating the need to partner community media and used the medium to inform the forum of their whistle blower handle which he said is an independent partner from the personnel of IE and urge members to always report issues to the appropriate quarters of decision makers and not to marketers who he said are not part of the decision maker. Issues should be reported to the undertaken offices through the commercial manager or to the business unit office before escalating to Alausa. While on the social media platforms he said that efforts are often made by escalating issues to the appropriate quarters once it is received, however unlike the telecommunication industry the energy sector requires physical inspection/assessment of issues hence it is difficult to get feedback immediately as in the case of telecos.

The president of APCOM Mr Dayo Akintobi on behalf of the association thanked IE for such recognition and pledged support of the association to IE, in what seem to be the case of Oliver Twist, he further highlighted the challenges of community media and the need for a partnership such as this be backed with supports such as quarterly advert placements.