Power: JED resumes massive installation of 40,000 meters

From From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

The Jos Electricity Distribution (JED) PLC said it had resumed massive installation of about 40, 000 metres across four its francise states of Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe and Bauchi.
This development came Following the suspention of prepaid meters in April this year by the company.

It would be recalled that In April this year, Nigerian Electricity Management Service Agency (MEMSA) which was saddled with the responsibilities of certifying meters ordered the company to stop the installations of the metres nutil properly checked.
The JEDC Managing Director, Mohammed Gidado Modibbo, made this known in an interactive session with journalists in Jos, explaining that NEMSA has now given JED the green light to continue with the installations of the metres as the prepaid meters supply by the company were in good condition.
According to him, “All the metres procured by JED were submitted to Kaduna for test and we complied with that directive and we are happy to report back that by August this year the agency responsible for testing these metres come back to us, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with our metres. We have been given the green light to continue installation of metres.”
He explained that before the suspension of the exercise they installed about 26, 000 metres across Bauchi, Plateau, Gombe and Benue, “and I assure you that, within the next two or three months, we are going to installed additional 40, 000 metres.”
He added that the advantages of their metres were enormous because by having the metres the customers would regulate their consumptions of power unlike the estimated billings or post-paid where they hardly notice their units.
“And to the distribution company the metering would reduce the load on their equipment and would spread the energy across the other areas where demand was so higher.” He said.
He however called on customers that the payment of bills could now also be done through Point of Sales (POS) Agents, USSD Short Codes, and Mobile Applications and Online sites. This According to him would reduce fraud and other difficulties in the company.