The Edo State Government has kicked off a comprehensive program to eliminate bulk electricity billing, paving the way for residents across all 18 local government areas to secure personal utility accounts and individual prepaid meters.
The Commissioner for Power, Paul Usenbo, announced the initiative during a multi-stakeholder meeting held in Benin. He explained that transitioning neighborhoods away from shared, unmetered power supply is vital for ending unfair energy charges and creating an accurate, transparent utility billing system.
“Currently, several neighborhoods operate under single shared connections. This setup prevents individual households from holding distinct utility accounts or meters, making it difficult to trace actual power consumption or establish direct customer agreements with the distribution utility, Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC)”, Usenbo stated.
According to him, under the new debulking strategy, state officials and utility reps will conduct household enumerations to register consumers, open distinct accounts, and schedule prepaid meter installations.
The Commissioner emphasized that achieving a fully metered grid requires active participation from local councils, community heads, state regulatory bodies, and BEDC.
He called on residents to cooperate with survey officials and submit accurate household data during the mapping phase, assuring the public that the state government will ensure utility providers remain accountable throughout the exercise.
Supporting the directive, Chairman of the Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission,Shittu Shaibu charged power distribution firms with improving service reliability while urging property owners to grant technicians access for meter installation.
Representing the distribution side, Acting CEO of BEDC Subco, Henry Onovwaka confirmed the utility’s commitment to assisting neighborhoods through the transition, adding that, the company is prepared to distribute and install the required prepaid meters once customer mapping is finalized.
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