by Tolu Orekoya

Now that PHCN has been broken up into several small and private companies – Talk of the power shed from the centre. (No pun intended.) – there is a a lot of work going into making sure the companies stay solvent i.e. making money. The first step in this direction is to plug revenue leaks. Eko Electricity Distribution Company is doing just that. The company is motivating customers to pay bills by promising a steady power supply in return.

Oladele Amoda, the chief executive officer of the power distribution firm said at a meeting that, “The tariff review will benefit Nigerian masses and small scale entrepreneurs most. The review is to attract investors to the sector as most consumers do not pay what is commensurate to what they consume. This shortfall has led to the inability of PHCN to pay for gas used to fire most of the plants across the country.”

According to Amoda, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) owes about N40 billion to such gas companies. Eko EDC hopes to have all consumers with meters within 18 months and will have a method for preventing over-billing, a process that has historically been ridden with mismanagement and corruption.

“The ultimate goal is to have all consumers metered within 18 months from now,” he said. “All rural dwellers and urban poor who consumed about 50kw per hour in a month or below will end up paying less in the new tariff regime.”

Source: Premium Times