IBEDC invests N47.18b in pre-paid meters, targets 300,000 customers in 2016

The Ibadan Electricity Distributing Company (IBEDC) has earmarked about N47.18 billion for acquisition of prepaid meters as it unfolds plans to meter 300,000 customers yearly.

The Managing Director of IBEDC, John Donnachie, who made this commitment at a business session recently, appealed to customers to take advantage of the Credited Advanced Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme introduced by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), as an intervention to bridge the huge metering gap across the country.

“The CAPMI scheme is a win-win situation for customers and IBEDC, as customers shall be refunded their meter payments via electricity unit rebates over a period of 36 months with 12 per cent interest, while ensuring they only pay for what they use,” he assured.

Donnachie further assured that the company is committed to serving her esteemed customers, which has seen them currently embarking on a robust meter roll-out scheme to cater for customers with unique challenges.

The initiative, he said would also help eradicate estimated billing and energy loss.

He however stated that as a permanent solution, IBEDC has put in place a 10-year metering plan (2015 – 2024) with the total investment estimated at about N47.18 billion.

The roll out plan, according to him, makes provision for over 80 per cent of our customers to be metered by the end of 2018.
Donnachie added that from 2016 to 2024, they have projected to meter over 300,000 customers yearly inclusive of the CAPMI scheme.

The IBEDC boss said that only 182,338 customers were metered at the time it took over in November 2013, while most of the meters had become obsolete or faulty and were replaced to ensure quality service.