MADUAKO IGBOKWE I Sunday, July 05, 2025
ENUGU, Nigeria – The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has directed the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to write off ₦474,744 in electricity bills issued to Mrs. Agbai Andy Obumneme Joy Nkiruka due to multiple billings.
According to NERC, EEDC confirmed that Mrs. Agbai’s outstanding balance before the installation of a prepaid meter was ₦72,956.88. Despite this, EEDC continued to bill her after she was migrated to a prepaid system, thereby accumulating unauthorized charges. NERC has ordered that all bills issued after metering be written off.
The directive follows a petition filed by Mrs. Agbai, who claimed that her three-phase prepaid meter installed at her residence by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) on May 16, 2012 was declared expired by EEDC staff after multiple inspections since December 2023.
Mrs. Agbai also alleged that her application for a new meter, submitted on July 20, 2024, was ignored.
She further stated that since October 2024, EEDC had been sending her estimated bills exceeding ₦60,000 per month, which she deemed unsustainable as she does not own or use an air conditioner.
She added that when her meter was functional, her monthly recharge never exceeded ₦25,000, and there was no justification for the inflated estimates.
Mrs. Agbai contested the sudden appearance of an alleged outstanding arrears of ₦547,700.92 on her account, which she claimed did not exist at the time her meter was installed in 2012. She insisted that she owed no arrears and stated that since around 2014, she had been recharging her meter using the prepaid system.
She explained that prior to migrating to prepaid in May 2014, she received monthly postpaid bills from EEDC, which she paid regularly. She requested that EEDC verify these records.
In her petition, Mrs. Agbai asked for the disputed ₦547,700.92 to be removed from her account and for her faulty meter to be replaced with a functional three-phase unit.
NERC confirmed that the meter at Mrs. Agbai’s residence is indeed faulty. In line with Order E on the structural replacement of faulty or obsolete meters under the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) guidelines, EEDC is required to replace the meter within one month.
NERC further stated that although the customer’s verified arrears prior to metering stood at ₦72,956.88, EEDC continued to bill her post-migration until 2022, resulting in the inflated arrears of ₦547,700.92. Therefore, EEDC must write off ₦474,744.04 the difference accumulated after she was switched to a prepaid meter.
NERC ordered EEDC to adjust all estimated bills issued to Mrs. Agbai from October 2024 to date, using the average of her last three months of vending before the meter became faulty. This billing method is to be maintained until a new meter is installed.
The Commission emphasized that this directive aligns with Section 36(2)(2) of the Customer Protection Regulations (CPR), 2023, and Order H of the amended order on the capping of estimated bills for EEDC PLC.
In accordance with Section 25(1)(c) of the CPR 2023, NERC also directed that EEDC must not disconnect Mrs. Agbai based on the disputed arrears until the necessary adjustments have been completed.
Meanwhile, the customer is to pay her current bills based on her average past metered consumption.
Despite the directive, Mrs. Agbai reported that while EEDC has replaced her meter, it was replaced with a single-phase meter instead of the required three-phase. Furthermore, the new meter is non-functional, leaving her without electricity since its installation.
