Electricity tariff hike: Abuja Disco promises better services

By Etuka Sunday

 Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) yesterday promised improved service delivery that would be commensurate with the recently reviewed tariff system by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The Chief Executive Officer/MD, Abuja Disco, Neil Croucher who assured customers during a safety campaign to Dutse, one of the satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said the company would ensure that customers get the value for their money, despite current electricity challenges.

Croucher said, “We inherited a system that was not in good shape so we need to change everything but we can’t do that overnight, we need time to do that,” he said.

He said many were killed as a result of illegal connections and vandalism, so there was need to sensitise the people on the dangers of the act.

The AEDC boss said the company planned to partner with the public to protect equipment since electricity is capital intensive, saying that a 24 hours operation call centre would be established to work closely with the consumers.

On quick response to repairs, he said electricity sector has no good reputation in the past but the company is working tirelessly to change that perception, adding that the stores would be well stocked with equipment to help speedy repairs.

On whether the persistent vandalisation of electricity infrastructure was affecting the revenue base of the company, Croucher said, yes, that revenue was one of the key factors of the privatization.

On metering, he said the process has started, saying that metre was key in the industry and that it was the right of the customers to be metered to do away with estimated billing.

According to him, the company has in its plan to roll out 100, 000 meters annually.

On the technical side, he said that AEDC has installed about a 100 transformers and has plans to install 200 more transformers for better service delivery.