NERC Ranks Ibadan Disco First Among Distribution Companies

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Barely few weeks after it slammed multi-million naira fines on Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for allegedly failing to respond appropriately to customer complaints, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ranked the company first among all the 11 distribution companies in the country.

The regulatory agency had slammed N45.6 million fines on four Discos – Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Ikeja for failing to either submit their audit reports on time, or refusal to satisfactorily address service complaints brought to them by their customers.

NERC accused Ibadan Disco of failing to comply with the decisions of the agency’s Forum Office from February 23, 2015 when the first directive was given to it till August 5, 2016 when it had to take a regulatory action against it.
According to the agency, the Ibadan Disco was found to have violated four grounds after it refused to comply with the Forum’s decisions in respect of installations of electricity transformers and energising communities.

But according to the NERC’s bench marking and ranking of Discos for the 2nd quarter of 2016, Ibadan Disco has moved from the 4th position it occupied in the first quarter of 2016 to the number one position.

The agency made this known at the recent monthly sectoral meeting held at Maiduguri, Borno State, between the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the stakeholders in the power sector.

The rankings are based on the following parameters- average technical and collection (ATC&C) losses reduction, collection efficiency, metering progress, HV faults clearance Index and reporting compliance.

Commenting on this laudable feat, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IBEDC, Mr. John Donnachie attributed the improved performance to the commitment and pursuance of the company’s 5- pronged 2016 strategic business initiatives to improve overall service delivery and customer experience to its esteemed customers.
“Since inception and specifically this year, we have made giant strides in upgrading our network infrastructure, revamping our billing system, investing heavily in the capital development of our human resource, massive franchise wide metering and delivery of superior customer service,” he said.

Donnachie further stated that IBEDC will not rest on its oars, as this new position has undoubtedly spurred and invigorated the entire workforce to become more committed and continuously put in their utmost to ensure, superior and efficient service delivery to customers in line with the company’s vision to be the best electricity distribution company in the country.

Also responding, the Deputy Managing Director, Mr. John Ayodele said IBEDC was seeking new and effective ways to continually deliver on its customer satisfaction promise: to distribute power and change the lives of its valued customers by ensuring that the allocated power supply is adequately rationed so that customers get value for paying their bills whilst we continue to pursue our metering exercise.

He further appealed to customers to pay their bills promptly, report illegal activities in their communities to enable the company serve them better.

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