OKPELLA ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS COMPLAINTS/SUBMISSIONS

OKPELLA ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS COMPLAINTS/SUBMISSIONS

Benin Electricity Distribution and Okpella Community

By Barr. Ayuba Giwa.

For the avoidance of doubts, below is the case Okpella made to the Benin Electricity Consumers' Complaints Forum/Tribunal, to which BEDC has no defense to.

Okpella is one of the autonomous Communities in Edo State, Nigeria. It is a Clan made up of  villages and a central cosmopolis called Okugbe.

Electric Power installations have been in the Community for more than four (4) decades and the customers/consumers have over the years being paying their bills as at when due, before the advent of the BENIN ELECTRICITY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY(BEDC) and the emergence of estimated bills.

The Community assigned to BEDC at their instance, some young men who went about collecting the payment for the Electricity Company every month without any hindrance. At a point, a company located in the Community pursuant to their Corporate Social Responsibility offered to be paying to BEDC the sum of Seven million naira (N7m) monthly to offset the estimated bills for the consumption of  private customers of BEDC while the commercial customers are metered alongside persons willing to be metered. To this effect, an enumeration was done pursuant to the “agreement” reached by BEDC and representatives of customers in Okpella. 

Unfortunately and while the Distribution Company, BEDC was still in breach of the “agreement”, the Distribution Company on 16th December 2017 disconnected the entire Community from the National grid peremptorily, and without due process or regard to law. 

The consumers representatives therefore petitioned against the unlawful disconnection for consideration by the Forum for Customers Complaints established pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Customer Complaints Handling Standards and  Procedures 2006 made pursuant section 96 (2) (c) & (d) of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act no 6 of 2005.

SUMMARY OF COMPLAINTS AGAINST BENIN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY

The Petition dated 5th March 2018, narrates vividly, the complaints of Okpella Electricity/Customers. In summary, the Petition levels against BEDC, the following illegalities and transgressions against the law as borne out by the facts of the Petition which need not be repeated here again.

Defect or deficiency in the electricity service provided by BEDC contrary to Regulation 6 sub (i) of the NERC Customer Complaints Handling Standards and Procedures 2006.

Unfair trade Practices are undertaken by BEDC which plunged a whole town, Okpella, into darkness through disconnection, from the National grid since Dec. 16, 2017 (5 Months) in violation of the clear provisions of the Power Regulation and Disconnection Procedures for Electricity Service, 2007 made pursuant to Act no 6 of 2005, i.e. Regulation 10(i) (b) & (a) thereof.

BEDC lumping both private consumers/Customers with commercial/Industrial consumers/customers together in a transformer and billing the transformer ends up charging both customers at the same rate, and in effect, charges private Okpella consumers in “excess of the price fixed by the Commission.” This is contrary to Regulation 6 (iii) of the 2006 Regulation.

PARTICULARS

• The Petition alleges that BEDC fixed bulk analog meters to transformers and not to consumers/customers.

• BEDC reads or purports to read these transformer meters alone and demands payment for whatever BEDC claims the transformers read and not what enters into individual customers houses and consumed therein.

• The transformers supply both commercial users and private users but BEDC lumps them together and bills them at the same and equally undisclosed rates.

• BEDC entered into a payment arrangement with Okpella customers representatives yet went ahead and disconnected the entire community while it was still in breach of its own side of the bargain to meter commercial consumers and jointly audit and read the bills and meters respectively with the Okpella customers.

• From the time Okpella people were helping BEDC to collect estimated bills from house to house till date; no remuneration of any sort has been paid to such ad hoc workers. This is unfair trade practice and exploitative.

• BEDC has massive installations on Okpella lands by way of substations, and distribution transformers. BEDC has never been charged any rent for these lands which were never acquired or paid for. Yet BEDC uses these installations to supply neighbouring communities to Okpella such as Uzairue, Ineme, etc with 24 hours electricity while Okpella, where the facilities are located is in darkness and for the 5th Month running too.

• BEDC plunged Okpella into darkness for the 5th Month running over disputed bills in respect of which complaint has been made to the Commission and an offer of N21 million made to BEDC for unconsumed electricity arising from doubtful and estimated billing system not independently or jointly verified. This is contrary to Regulation 10 (1) (d) of the Commission’s Connection and Disconnection Procedures for Electricity Service 2007 made pursuant to the EPSR Act no 6 of 2005.

PRAYERS

In the above circumstances, Okpella electricity customers pray the FORUM/PANEL for both interim and permanent reliefs as follows:

INTERIM

We pray the PANEL to direct BEDC to reconnect Okpella with electricity within a short time as the Panel may wish to direct, having regard to the fact that the FORUM/PANEL is already seised of  and is considering this complaint as provided for in Regulation 10 (i) (b) and (d) of the 2007 Regulations, pending the final decision of this FORUM/PANEL.

We pray that the panel directs the parties (BEDC and Okpella Electricity customers, to set up the joint audit committee they already agreed to, for the resolution of the differences in the billing and bills.

FINAL

We pray that the FORUM/PANEL orders BEDC to remove all the defects/deficiencies in the services it is rendering to Okpella Electricity Consumers as enacted in Regulation 11 (b) of the 2006 Regulations of NERC. 

That is to say:

• Mass/central disconnection that of a whole Community.

• Bulk metering of transformers.

• Estimated billing of consumers through transformers.

• Lumping together of all categories of customers for same charges/prices through transformers.

• Over billing and inconsistent hyper inflated billing of Okpella customers/consumers.

• We pray that the FORUM/PANEL orders BEDC to discontinue its unfair trade practice in Okpella such as the above enumerated ones as well as

1. Using installations in Okpella land, it has plunged into Darkness to supply 24 hours electricity to Okpella’s neighbours when it does not pay for the lands where the installations are.
2. Using as it were, “cluster bombs” banned world wide years ago by punishing the entire Okpella customers including those willing and able to pay for their electricity consumption not withstanding all the legal prohibitions in that regard. The definition of customer or consumer in the Law is “a person” not a clan or entire Community. Otherwise, BEDC will plunge the whole of Edo State into darkness one day for alleged and disputed default of a few. This is clearly unlawful, unconstitutional, a shame and a sin.

We beg to submit.
Dated this …………..18th …………day of April, 2018

Dr. Ayuba Giwa
Dr. Godwin Umoru
Chief John Okodo
(Solicitors to Okpella Electricity Customers/Consumers Committee)
c/o A.O. Giwa & Associates
N0 15 Etuwewe Road
Off Deco Road
Warri