Residents of Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, have bemoaned the very pricey electricity tariff charged by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company -AEDC, and the residents have threatened to protest if something wasn’t done soon.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria -NAN, the residents stated that the estimated bills distributed for August and September showed a huge increase in tariff.
Mr. Richard Ekoja, a resident under the Mararaba Business Unit, stated that he received a bill of N22,269.70 for August and September respectively as against the N6,000 and N9,000 he had been paying up until then.
Mr. Ekoja who pointed accusing fingers at the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission -NERC, for phasing out the analog meter in a haste, added that the company should have provided prepayment meters for consumers before embarking on what he called a hasty decision.
Another resident, Mr. Leonard Ogwuche, also under the Mararaba Business Unit, remarked that the AEDC was exploiting customers under the pretense of estimated billing.
Mr. Ogwuche also went on to say that consumers in his area had always contributed money to fix faulty transformers and other minor repairs without receiving refunds or compensation from the company.
Meanwhile, an official of the company who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity declared that the new tariff has come to stay while revealing that the Electricity company was paying so much to buy power.
He then advised customers to go and purchase a prepayment meter to avoid the estimated billing.
