Electricity Disco loses N27.6bn

The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED)said on Friday that it lost N27.6 billion annually to unpaid bills by customers.Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Jay McCoskey, made this known to newsmenat the launch of the company’s ‘Energy Efficiency’programme in Port Harcourt.He said that huge figure accrued because some customers could not locate where to pay or how to pay the bills.According to McCoskey, every month, PHED has a revenue loss of N2.3 billion which amounts to N27.6 billion annually.“Most of the cases of non-payment are because people don’t know where and how to pay their electricity bills.“So, we have come up with anonline payment service that will enable customers to, within five minutes, make payments without difficulty.“This online payment service will complement other channels of payment, which means that customers will spend few minutes to pay their electricity bills,” he said.McCoskey added that the firm had also provided other avenues for consumers to pay their bills without hassles.He announced that the company would spend N1.7 billion to improve electricity supply to its customers in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers.“This spending is part of our energy efficiency programmewhich targets 24-hour electricity supply to our areas of coverage,” he said.The company’s Programme Manager, Energy Efficiency, Mr Frank Ajaegbu, advised customers to use their electricity in an efficient manner.He said that efficient management of electricity by customers would enable PHED to spread electricity to homes, adding that “consumers can save about 30 per cent of energy consumed if they embrace energy saving methods.“Customers should turn off their appliances when going out while they use efficient energy saving equipment to conserve energy.”