Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has confirmed that it failed to supply 20 hours of electricity in 13 Band A feeders on April 5.
Gatekeepers News reports that the BEDC, on Sunday, apologized to its customers for not meeting the required minimum service level of 20 hours on the 13 feeders and is taking steps to ensure consistent power supply in the affected areas.
The BEDC noted that some of the feeders had between 12 to 19 hours of power supply.
The affected feeders include Benin-GRA, Benin-Nekpenkp, Benin-Okada, Ihovbor-UNIBEN, AGBOR 6, Akure-Obaile, Akure-Futa, Delta-Isoko/Kwale and others.
The BEDC has attributed the outages to technical faults, vehicular collision with poles, frequency control from the TCN, load shedding, and fault due to heavy rainstorms among others.
“Dear valued customers, we wish to sincerely apologise for not meeting up with the required minimum service level of 20 hours on the feeders.
“We are taking steps to ensure consistent and reliable power supply in the affected areas. BEDC is committed to upholding our service level agreements,” the BEDC said.
Additionally, the Ikere 33kv Feeder, previously classified as Band A, has been downgraded to Band B and the associated tariff adjusted to reflect the downgrade.
The Federal Government has also recently announced that it will no longer pay subsidies on electricity consumed by Band A customers, while others will continue to pay the old rates.
Band A customers are those who enjoy a minimum of 20 hours of power supply on a daily basis.
To avoid overbilling, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has asked customers to visit their DisCos’ websites to see if they were affected by the tariff change.
“If you are a Band A customer, your DisCo is expected to provide you with at least 20 hours of electricity daily. It is your right to receive that minimum hours of power daily. Monitor it. Report quality of service delivery to NERC so appropriate action can be instituted against the erring DisCo.
“If you are a Band B – E customer under the new tariff regime and you are overcharged for electricity tokens, report immediately. The government is still subsidising your electricity at the old rates. Note that all DisCos have been ordered by NERC to refund all erroneous deductions from customers not in the revised Band A latest April 12, 2024,” the NERC said.
