The management of EKO Electricity Distribution Company Plc on Thursday said it would soon publish the names of energy theft customers within its network.
Mr Oladele Amoda, the DISCO Chief Executive Officer, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the company was losing over 30 per cent revenue to energy theft monthly.
Amoda said it was surprising that educated customers constituted the bulk of energy thieves within its network.
He said they were supposed to understand the essence of paying for electricity consumed, but instead, they engaged in stealing electricity.
According to him, most of the energy theft customers caught stealing energy without paying were elites living in enlightened areas of our operations.
“We are going to start publishing the names of energy theft customers within our operations in the dailies.
“Most customers caught engaging in energy theft live in lkoyi, Lekki, Victoria Island and most high brow areas,” he said.
Amoda said that some of them engaged in by-passing of meters, reconnection without payment and tempering with meters among other acts.
He said that activities of the energy thieves and vandalism within its network cost the company over N1 billion monthly.
“In order to monitor our network effectively for fault detection, clearance and track energy theft, the company has awarded contract to automate the network.
“We have introduced specialist software to be used for the supervisory control and data acquisition of customers and faults.
“This is an industrial automation control system at the core of many modern industries to track defaulters and clear technical issues within the network,” he said.
Amoda also said the company had awarded contract to enumerate customers within the network and to bring in new ones.
He said though, the exercise would be carried out in phases, every area would be covered at the end.
Amoda said that officials of the company had already embarked on a house-to-house inspection in designated locations for the commencement of the exercise.
He urged to customers to cooperate with the duly identified officials.
The EKEDCP chief reiterated the company’s commitment to promoting cordial relationship between it and its customers through prompt attendance to all complaints and grievances by customers.
He said every area and community was vital to the attainment of the company’s corporate goal.
Amoda lauded Lagos State Government for providing assistance in various forms to the company, and for the offer of land to construct injection substation for a combined capacity of over 140 megawatts.
NAN
