Overbilling: Enugu Residents Hail EERC’s Refund Order

Residents of Enugu State have commended the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) for ordering MainPower Electricity Distribution Company, formerly Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), to refund customers’ overbills.

The order was contained in a public notice issued by EERC on Monday where the commission said that its order was consequent upon many complaints by customers against the firm’s overbilling.

The order signed by the chairman of EERC, Chijioke Okonkwo, and the commissioner in charge of Market Operations, Barr. Reuben Okoye,  gave MainPower till July 2025 billing cycle at most to refund the customers, failing which it would pay a fine of N500,000 for each day that it fails to comply with the order in line with the extant law of the Enugu State Electricity Law, 2023.

Impressed by the order, some residents of Enugu who spoke with LEADERSHIP in an exclusive interview lauded the decision, saying that EEDC, which was later taken over by Main Power, has exploited people of the Southeast for a long time.

A resident of Ogui New Layout, Mr Ignatius Okonkwo asked EERC to insist on the refund and follow it up because people of Enugu State have suffered so much because officials of EEDC were deliberately over-billing their customers.

“This is the best decision because people have been crying without anyone wiping their tears, before EERC was established, NERC was like an arm of EEDC. They never attended to any petition and that made EEDC officials tyrants,” he stated.

A woman residing at Maryland, Mrs Ifeoma Obigeri narrated how all she cooked and kept in the freezer spoilt because of wrong billing.

“I paid N20,000 but they came and said I should pay N50,000 and I told that I was not using appliances that consume too much light. I even begged them to read the postpaid meter they gave me but they refused and disconnected me. I have been begging them to give me prepaid meter but they refused because they like to overbill people. So, I’m happy over the order,” she stated.

Another resident of Obiagu, Mr. Obinna Ekwe described the order as the best decision and urged the EERC to ensure that they pay the money to the affected customers.