COVID-19: NERC records over 2,600 customer complaints in 13 days

By ADETOLA BADEMOSI, Abuja

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said within 13 days, it recorded over 2,600 customer complaints on electricity supply interruptions.

The Commission had earlier in April announced the constitution of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry(NESI) ‘Situation Room’ to forestall prolonged electricity supply interruption by the industry operators for the period of lockdown declared by the Federal Government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a report titled: Report of Customer Complaints Handling in NESI Situation Room uploaded via its official website, the Commission said it recorded a total of 2,689 interruption complaints out of which it resolved 1,443.

Out of the 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) was top on the list with 604, while Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) followed with 437 and 381 respectively.

It observed that although, the total number of complaints received were 3,225 but noted that only 2,689 of these were focused on interruptions.

The Commission further noted that some of the DisCos blamed this on infrastructure and technical constraints on their feeders.

“Some DisCos reported having some infrastructure and technical constraints on some of their feeders which the Commission is intervening to ensure a speedy resolution,” it stated.

It further explained that complaints received from electricity customers through telephone/text messages, WhatsApp messages, and emails are tracked daily with relevant operators to ensure expeditious resolution.

“Prolonged electricity supply interruptions are tracked by the ‘Situation Room’ to ensure Nigerians have stable electricity supply for the lockdown period,” it added. (Nigerian Tribune)