The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) confirmed, on Sunday, that it failed to supply 20 hours of electricity in 13 Band ‘A’ feeders on April 5.
The BEDC, while apologising to its customers for not meeting up with the required minimum service level of 20 hours on the 13 feeders, said it was taking steps to ensure consistent power supply in the affected areas.
In an announcement on Sunday, it was observed that some of the feeders had between 12 to 19 hours of power supply.
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The feeders included Benin-GRA, Benin-Nekpenkp, Benin-Okada, Ihovbor-UNIBEN, AGBOR 6, Akure-Obaile, Akure-Futa, Delta-Isoko/Kwale and others.
The Benin DisCo blamed the outages on 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.
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The DisCo also announced that the Ikere 33kv Feeder previously classified as Band A has been downgraded to Band B and the associated tariff adjusted to reflect the downgrade.
On Wednesday, the Federal Government, said it would no longer pay subsidy on electricity consumed by Band A customers, but others would 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, on Sunday 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.