45% of electricity supplied to Plateau lost to theft – Jos DisCO

Jos Electricity Distribution (JED) Plc has raised the alarm over the growing incidence of electricity theft in Plateau State, revealing that about 45 per cent of energy supplied to the state is lost to illegal activities, a situation it says poses a serious threat to sustainable power supply.

The Plateau State Chief Operating Officer of JED, Engr. Hamisu Wakili Jigawa, disclosed this on Thursday during a quarterly customer consultative forum in Jos.

He said the forum, held in line with regulatory requirements, provides an opportunity for customers to engage directly with the company, present unresolved complaints and obtain prompt resolutions.

According to him, the engagement forms part of JED’s commitment to strengthening customer relations and improving service delivery.

“This consultative forum is a regulatory requirement. Beyond that, it gives customers who may not have access to our radio programmes or other communication channels the opportunity to bring forward their complaints.

“Some of these complaints may have been reported several times without resolution. At this forum, our technical, commercial and customer service teams are all present, making it possible to resolve such issues immediately or shortly after the meeting,” he said.

Jigawa described electricity theft as one of the biggest challenges confronting the company, warning that the high level of energy losses could undermine efforts to improve electricity supply across the state.

According to him, about 70 per cent of customers in Jos currently enjoy more than 20 hours of electricity daily, adding that the company plans to upgrade more feeders to Band A to enable more communities to benefit from improved supply.

“We are committed to improving electricity supply. As long as customers continue to pay their bills, we will continue to invest in network upgrades so that more communities can enjoy over 20 hours of electricity every day,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chief Commercial Officer of JED, Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim, announced that the company would distribute 109,000 free electricity meters to customers across Plateau, Bauchi, Benue and Gombe states under the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).

He explained that the meters would be shared among customers in the company’s four franchise states and not Plateau alone.

According to him, JED has already distributed over 20,000 free meters under another Federal Government-backed metering initiative, while customers also have the option of obtaining meters through the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme.

Ibrahim explained that unlike the MAP scheme, under which customers initially pay for meters and are later refunded through energy credits approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), meters distributed under DISREP and other government-backed programmes are completely free.

Responding to complaints over debt notifications appearing on newly installed prepaid meters, Ibrahim explained that outstanding debts from the old post-paid billing system were automatically transferred to the new meters.

He said the company had introduced flexible repayment arrangements that allow indebted customers to settle outstanding bills in instalments through electricity vending.

According to him, customers owing less than N1 million can repay as little as N2,000 monthly, while those with higher debts are placed on structured repayment plans.

Ibrahim said the customer consultative forum was organised to enable consumers lodge complaints, make suggestions and interact directly with the company’s management on ways to improve electricity service delivery.

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