Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company which services Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers states have declared that it would meter customers in the various states in phases.
The disco made the disclosure after it took delivery of only 77,000 prepaid meters from the Federal Government under the National Mass Metering Programme.
According to the Disco, the number was grossly inadequate to distribute to its franchise areas, thus it decided to install the metres based on feeders.
The Acting Manager, Corporate Affairs, PHED, Chioma Aninwe, dispelled insinuations that the electricity distribution company was distributing the prepaid meters unevenly.
She said, “I don’t understand why anybody would say we are distributing the meters unevenly.
“We are metering feeder-wise, meaning that when we target a particular feeder, we meter only those on that feeder, before moving to another.
“So if you are living in one street that is not on the feeder we are metering, you will not be metered at that particular time and that is why people might say it is uneven.
“The reason we are doing that is because there are apportioned meters for every state in our franchise area; Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers states. So we can’t give all our metres to just one for example Rivers state.”
The explanation came as Rivers residents demanded that prepaid meters be quickly installed for them, describing the existing estimated billing by electricity distribution companies as fraudulent.
