Kaduna Electric says it has refunded unmetered customers who were overcharged through estimated billing.
Estimated billing is a system of charging unmetered electricity consumers for electrical energy consumed based on their previous usage, without considering the actual quantity of energy consumed.
The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in February sanctioned the 11 electricity distribution companies for overbilling their customers to the tune of about N105bn in nine months.
“A review of the electricity distribution companies’ billing of unmetered customers for 2023 has revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the commission,” the NERC had said.
In response to this and in a bid to safeguard unmetered customers from arbitrary billing by Discos, the commission stated that pursuant to Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023, it had issued the order on Non-Compliance with Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/2024/004-01 4).
It said the order stipulates, among other things that: “Credit adjustment to customers: Discos are to issue credit adjustments to all over-billed unmetered customers for the period January to September 2023 by the March 2024 billing cycle”.
In a statement on February 23, the Kaduna Disco said it would comply with the directive of the regulatory body by refunding the affected customers
However, in a post on its X handle on Thursday, Kaduna Electric said it has complied with the NERC directive.
“As directed by NERC, Kaduna Electric has complied with the order to refund overbilled customers from January to September 2023.
“The full list of beneficiaries can be found on our website,” the Disco stated.
It is yet to be confirmed if other Discos have complied with the NERC order.
The PUNCH reports that out of the 13,231,807 electricity consumers in Nigeria, only 5,885,687 have been metered as of January 2024.
