Electricity consumers in many parts of the country are lamenting over huge bills that are now being slammed on them by electricity distribution companies (DISCOs). The bills, which the companies base on “estimates” of the amount of electricity that they feel the consumers may have used within a certain period, are clearly going beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.  The absence of any credible criteria for the estimates, other than the sizes of the houses and the number of electrical gadgets that are likely to be found in them, have not helped to assuage the anger of electricity consumers who bear the brunt of the controversial “estimated bills.”
The problem of “estimated” electricity bills is not exactly new in Nigeria. It has been on for many years, as far back as the days of the defunct   National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).  Consumers have for so many years complained about electricity workers  showing up at the end of the month to distribute outrageous bills that they believe have no basis in reality.
Estimated bills arise because of the inefficiency of electricity companies in determining the actual amount of electricity used by individual customers. The problem is one of the anomalies of the power distribution system in the country that the new DISCOs were expected to address. Unfortunately, instead of finding a solution to the problem and ensuring that consumers only pay for the electricity that they use, the DISCOs are still making Nigerians to pay “estimated bills” for electricity.
It is instructive that the “estimated bill” issue is largely a problem of consumers who do not use pre-paid meters.  Most of the metres of the old NEPA are no longer functional.  In other places, the new DISCOS have no metres at all, so bills have to be “estimated.”  Consumers see those bills as arbitrary and bearing no resemblance to their power consumption.
Interestingly, the DISCOS say they are not benefitting unduly from the situation.  They have been complaining about huge revenue shortfalls, and the challenge of recovering their operational and energy costs through bills.  We observe that the latest crazy bills seem to have followed the government’s increase of the price of gas from $1.50 to $3.30 per cubic feet.  This decision was taken to incentivize gas production, which is fundamental to the production of electricity.
While the reform of the power sector was widely expected to lead to a significant improvement in electricity supply, and some increase in cost   because of the injection of private investments into the sector, the people certainly did not expect the current skyrocketing bills, especially in view of the fact that the improvement in power supply has only been marginal in many parts of the country.
The outcry over the huge estimated bills needs to be carefully examined, and corrective action taken, to ensure that electricity consumers are not unduly ripped off. It is necessary to keep the sector productive and growing without asphyxiating consumers, especially the domestic users.
There is no doubt that if all consumers had access to pre-paid metres, the current outrage over estimated bills would not have arisen.  The   consumers who bought those metres, reluctantly at first, are now the most contented.  They feel they are getting their money’s worth.  Their compatriots who are hit with the estimated bills feel like they are being swindled.  In other words, a universal supply of pre-paid meters would help to solve the problem once and for all. With the metres, consumers will at least know that they are paying for the electricity that they consumed, and not estimates.
The reason for the shortage of pre-paid metres in the country is in dispute.  Electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) claim they cannot afford to offer everyone the metres at once.  The Managing Director of a DISCO based in Lagos State said the company will supply the metres in phases, beginning with commercial consumers, the high-consuming customers, and then, the residential customers.
He, however, explained that those who cannot wait for this plan can pay for their own metres and get it within 45 days.  As straightforward and simple as this sounds, consumers who have become wary of unfulfilled promises in the power sector do not seem to believe it.
Many consumers think the DISCOs deliberately hoard the metres because  pre-paid metre customers pay significantly less than the “estimated”  bills customers.  Let the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) intervene in this dispute and, in full consultation with stakeholders, arrive at an equitable resolution.
If possible, it should set a deadline within which every DISCO should provide a prepaid metre for every domestic consumer.  We commend the NERC for its previous interventions, such as the one   which relieved consumers of service charges for any month they are not supplied power for two weeks.
Electricity is the engine that drives the Nigerian economy and how it is managed is of utmost importance to the economic well-being of the country.  The problem of estimated bills should be resolved immediately by the NERC.

Taming ‘crazy’ electricity bills