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Residents in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, have protested against Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over the use of estimated billing for electricity consumption.
They lamented that this is happening despite purchasing transformers and other accessories to ensure steady power supply. They also demanded for pre-paid metres, prompt attention to their fault- reports, and complaints, promising that where these demands were being met, they would expedite payment of their certified consumed bills.
They spoke during the EEDC’s resumed public engagement tagged, “Informative, educative and interactive engagement”, held in Umuahia. According to residents, despite their desire to access power and do the needful, they were not being well served.
“We pay bills, but others enjoy the service, we get light for less than three hours in a month. Due to estimated billing, no building in the World Bank Estate is billed less than N300,000.00.”
“In another area, it was reported that a transformer donated by a politician has been awaiting installation, because the residents were asked to pay N4 million.”
Also, Curator of the National War Museum Umuahia, Mrs. Evelyn Osuagwu, said her application for replacement of their pre-paid metre, destroyed by thunderstorm has not been attended to since 2021.
Addressing the residents, the EEDC’s Head of Communications, Emeka Eze, debunked the notion that the company was responsible for power outages, stressing that EEDC business is limited to distribution of the electricity generated and transmitted by others.
He said for steady and ideal services provision, adequate power must be made available from the generation and transmission sources, while consumers must pay accordingly.
Also, Uju Okafor of the EEDC Consumer Services Department, faulted some customers for not seeking information from outside the company staff or designated employees.
She urged customers to always file their complaints and fault reports officially and use the evidence to follow-up, through WhatsApp lines, email, direct telephone calls, including designated whistle- blowing alternatives.
In his remarks, Head of Health, Safety and Environment, Dr Francis Iwu, warned against erecting buildings and planting trees under high tension cables, illegal/un-professional connections, and disconnections, not switching off gadgets after power outages and not reporting promptly when faults develop.
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