The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has unveiled a web and mobile enabled ‘power outage reporting system app’ that would allow customers to report power supply disruptions in their area.
The Commission had in 2020 approved a service based tariff, SBT, that grouped customers into bands based on the number of hours electricity is expected to be supplied.
Customers in Band A were expected to receive a minimum of 20 hours of supply daily, Band B 16 hours, Band C 12 hours, Band D 8 hours and Band E 4 hours. But while consumers have continued to pay the SBT rates, power supply has failed to meet the hourly target set by the regulator.
NERC said the new App would allow the Commission monitor and measure the performance of electricity distribution companies, DisCos, in terms of hourly supply of electricity to the various customer categories.
Speaking at the event in Abuja, yesterday, the Chairman of NERC, Engr. Sanusi Garba said the app will allow customers to immediately report disruptions in power supply, especially in the light of the new customer protection regulations recently issued by the commission.
He said: “So this particular app we are launching today is supposed to assist the commission in monitoring that DisCos are actually complying with the standards set out in that regulations. Originally, the App was designed for crowd sourcing data for the purpose of the Service Based Tariff.
“The crowd sourcing is like sampling the level of the quality of supply that customers are experiencing, but then the Commission decided that it’s better to put smart meters on all feeders so that you have 100% live data or near real time data to ensure that DisCos are actually complying with the service obligations as prescribed in the tariff orders”.
Engr. Garba explained that the App which is currently available to to customers of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, located in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Kogi, Niger and Nasarawa states would be rolled in other parts of the country soon.
Explaining how the App will work, NERC Commissioner Consumer Affairs, Aisha Mahmud said the platform will be operated by the DisCos but monitored by the Commission with specific timelines on resolution of customer complaints.
“So the way it works is that if you have complaint on any outage, there are multiple channels you can use to report this outage. There is a web app, and then there is a mobile app as well. You can download it on your phone through Apple or Google store and then you put in your meter number and go ahead to report your complaints.
In a simple layman language, if you have a complaint, what you do is you download the app, and then you put your meter number, log in your complaints and the app will automatically send a confirmation to the customers or that particular feeder of yours to find out if there is really an outage. If there is, then we need about two to three customers to confirm that there is an outage on that particular feeder.
As soon as they confirm that, the app will send back a confirmation to the DisCo with resolution timeline to say okay, you’re supposed to resolve this within hours or one day. And as soon as the DisCo resolves this complaint, then the DisCo will go and update that particular app saying that we’ve resolved this particular complaint. The app again will automatically send another confirmation request to those customers on that particular feeder informing them that the complaint has been resolved.”
On his part, the Managing Director/CEO, AEDC, Mr. Christopher Ezeafulukwe noted that the app would enable the company receive instant feedback from the customers.
While assuring consumers of prompt response, Mr. Ezeafulukwe he pointed out that the app “is a product of collaboration. And because it is a product of collaboration, between the Commission and the DisCo, and eventually the customers. It then implies that it’s going to be a win win for all of us”.
