bigfish3k:


what of in my own case where i didn't meet any meter, the last occupant went away with his prepaid meter and am just about a month old in my new abode but was given an estimated billing amount of N29,500 with a new account opened for me in just three weeks of living there.
pls kindly advise, though i have already written to them about my dissatisfaction

Normally, an unmetered customer's estimated bill should be a weighted average based on the load supplied to their area's transformer. NERC even has one complex formula that Discos should use to calculate. The Discos actually know what you have consumed, but prefer to give inflated bills. That 29500 is what you would pay if they supplied your house with uninterrupted power 24/7 in a month. Their marketers have targets and will find all means to meet those targets.

I assume you are directly connected to the pole, so unfortunately you have to be billed based on supply to your transformer. However, your bill is too high, and you should complain to your forum office about it. Also inform them that you have applied/requested for a prepaid meter, which they have refused to give you. The right thing for the Disco to do is to send an official to take your load inventory based on the appliances in your house.The load inventory will determine your future bills until you are given a meter.

If you were metered before i.e there is still a meter inside your compound that stopped working, they are supposed to repair the meter, but until they do so they should get the last readings attached to that meter - meters are attached to account numbers - and subsequent bills will be based on those readings. They have the data, but are usually not keen on accessing/sharing it.

It will help your case if you can get an idea of what prepaid customers pay in your area, so that you can reach a compromise on the amount you should be paying.Do not let any Disco official shakara you. If NERC starts with them, they will start chasing you about with free meter

Hello Op,
Sorry for the inconvenience. My advice might be a bit long but if you want to bring EKEDP to their knees, I hope my epistle will help you and ensure that EKEDP actually refunds all the money they have collected from you. I am assuming that you are not a regular defaulter.

If I may ask, do you have a post-paid meter in place and is it currently working? If yes, did EKEDP officials ever take readings from the meter before they put you on estimated billing and did these readings ever reflect on the bills they brought to you? If yes again, please check your bill to get the last actual reading (LAR) and the date of the last actual reading. I suspect that your LAR will be on the January 2016 bill, since that was the lowest amount you mentioned. Please compare the LAR to today’s reading, to know if your meter is actually working. You can also calculate how much electricity you have used since the LAR and how much you should have overpaid since then (I assume you are on RS2 and should be paying 24.00 per Kwh). If your post-paid meter is working fine, PLEASE CALCULATE HOW MUCH YOU ARE OWED, you are entitled to a refund from EKEDP.

I am emphasising on the meter because EKEDP officials might want to use it against you when NERC calls you for a hearing. They usually want to justify their exorbitant bills by claiming that customers with post-paid meters have “bypassed” them. In some cases, they will even claim that there is no meter in your house. If it is possible, ENSURE THAT NO EKEDP OFFICIAL TOUCHES YOUR POST-PAID METER because once your petition is with NERC, they will try as much as possible to tamper with your meter.

When you are done with your meter readings and taking the LAR, please write a letter to the NERC’s Eko Forum office at Odunlami Street. Ensure that the letter lists all your complaints, LAR and the amount of money you are being owed by EKEDP. Attach copies of all the bills you have paid from January 2016 till date, including the one you are disputing currently. Also attach copies of all the emails you have sent to EKEDP and NERC till date, so that they will know your complaint did not originate recently. You can take pictures of the meter readings and also attach to your complaint to prove that your meter is working. Take three copies of the letter and documents along with you, NERC will need that much.

After NERC sends your complaint to EKEDP, EKEDP will respond and NERC will send their response to you. If you are not satisfied with EKEDP’s response, you will write back to NERC to inform them of same. NERC will then call you for a hearing. Until NERC rules on your complaint, you should not pay a dime to EKEDP because they are the ones owing you money as you will state in your petition. The whole process could take up to 3 months but dem no born EKEDP well to disconnect your light once your complaint is with NERC, even if it is there for one year. Marketers will come to your house to beg you to withdraw your petition and they will even offer you a prepaid meter, but please stay strong and collect your money before you cave in to their demands.

I wish you all the best and hope this will solve the problem.