Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has committed over N10 billion for the procurement and installation of prepaid meters to her teeming customers in the distribution zone.

The company also inherited over 700,000 unmetered customers when they took over from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.

The EEDC head of communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, who disclosed this in an interview in his office, said that it has always been their desire to meter all their customers in order to stop estimated billing.

Eze who said that they have procured certified prepaid meters at the cost of over N10 billion, pointed out that due to lack of adequate funds, they cannot at present provide meters to all their customers.

“We have started metering our customers but we are not yet there. For us to meter all our customers, we need time and resources but the resources are not readily available. We have committed over N10 billion to procuring and providing meters to our customers.

“We have already started metering our customers but there is no way we can meter all our customers at the same time. We do not have the finance to meter all our customers.

“We need time, we need resources to meter all our customers. We inherited over 700, 000 unmetered customers and it will take time before we provide all of them with meters,” Ezeh said.

The image maker explained that for them to meet up with demand of providing meters to their customers, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, is trying to help them ensure that all their customers are metered.

He also explained that the prepaid meters, which he called smart meters, they are providing their customers with are free and even the installations are free and advised customers to report any of their personnel that demands any payment for the meter or the installation.

Eze, however, disclosed that the smart meters, because of the way they are prepared, would help to check or minimise meter bypass and energy theft.

“The smart meter will minimise meter bypass and energy theft,” he said, explaining that energy theft occurs when people connect electricity to their homes and offices without meters and without being on estimated billing while meter bypass means tampering with the meter so that it will not read while current is going on.

Asked why customers are not provided with constant power, Ezeh said that Nigeria generates about 3,000 megawatts of electricity and this necessitated the load shedding to serve their customers. He, however, added that if power generation improves, power distribution would improve.

Eze dispelled the misunderstanding that smart meters cost more than estimated billing and advised customers to learn how to conserve energy instead of wasting them.

He also advised customers to procure energy bulbs to conserve energy and to switch off electrical appliances when they are not in use.