The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has imposed a fine of ₦1.69bn on Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) for overbilling its customers.
The sanctions included a N200 million fine and a directive that the wrongly billed customers should be appropriately refunded.
The order, dated August 30 and signed by NERC Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, and Commissioner of Legal, Licensing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, cited AEDC’s failure to comply with earlier directives on capping estimated billing.
According to NERC, after investigating AEDC’s billing practices, it discovered that the company had overcharged customers from January to September 2023, leading to the imposition of the fine which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the overbilled amount.
NERC said it had “approved the deduction of N1.69bn from the total annual OpEx of AEDC effective September 2024, being 10 per cent of the overbilled amount by AEDC for the period covering January-September 2023.”
“The commission has approved the deduction of N1.69bn from AEDC’s annual operating expenditure as a penalty for non-compliance with the order on capping estimated bills”, the NERC’s Order said.
The commission also issued directives aimed at improving service delivery and monitoring compliance with service-based tariffs.
The AEDC is required to ensure the continuous monitoring of its service levels, particularly regarding electricity supply to Band A feeders.
The Supplementary Order, which will remain in effect until a new tariff review is issued, underscores NERC’s commitment to ensuring that electricity distribution companies adhere to regulatory guidelines while protecting consumers from unfair billing practices.
“Where AEDC fails to deliver on the committed level of service on a Band A feeder for consecutive two days, AEDC shall on the next day by 10am publish on its website an explanation of the reasons for the failure,” the Commission added.
Aside the fine, the NERC’s Order also mandated AEDC to procure a minimum of 61MW of embedded generation, with at least 30MW sourced from renewable energy, to improve the reliability of electricity supply within its franchise area.
The procurement of this capacity must be completed by April 2025, the Commission stated.
It emphasised that this measure was necessary to meet AEDC’s service delivery commitments under its Service-Based Tariff framework.
On the adjustments to AEDC’s tariffs, NERC noted that the commission had approved new tariffs effective from September 1, 2024.
NERC also made provisions for compensating customers for service failures, particularly for those on Band A feeders.
The Order further stated: “AEDC shall make appropriate compensation to the affected customers in Band A feeders listed in Appendix 3 for failure to deliver up to 20 hours of average supply but more than 18 hours of average supply.”