*The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) confirmed on Sunday that it failed to meet the required minimum service level of 20 hours of electricity supply in 13 Band A feeders on April 5. Apologizing to its customers for the shortfall, the BEDC assured that steps were being taken to ensure consistent power supply in the affected areas.
In an announcement, it was noted that some of the feeders experienced between 12 to 19 hours of power supply. The affected feeders included Benin-GRA, Benin-Nekpenkp, Benin-Okada, Ihovbor-UNIBEN, AGBOR 6, Akure-Obaile, Akure-Futa, Delta-Isoko/Kwale, among others. The BEDC attributed the outages to various factors such as technical faults, vehicular collisions with poles, frequency control from the TCN, load shedding, and fault due to heavy rainstorms.
The BEDC reiterated its commitment to upholding service level agreements and ensuring consistent and reliable power supply in the affected areas.
Additionally, the BEDC announced the downgrade of the Ikere 33kv Feeder from Band A to Band B, with the associated tariff adjusted accordingly. This decision follows the Federal Government’s announcement that it would no longer subsidize electricity consumed by Band A customers, while others would continue to pay the old rates.
To address concerns of overbilling, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) urged customers to check their DisCos’ websites to see if they were affected by the tariff change. Band A customers, who are entitled to a minimum of 20 hours of daily electricity supply, were advised to monitor their power supply and report any issues to NERC for appropriate action.
Furthermore, NERC instructed all DisCos to refund erroneous deductions from customers not in the revised Band A category by April 12, 2024, emphasizing the government’s commitment to subsidizing electricity at the old rates for Band B-E customers under the new tariff regime.