Edo Begins Statewide Shift From Bulk Electricity Billing to Individual Accounts

The Edo State Government has begun a statewide electricity debulking programme designed to move households away from community-level bulk billing and toward separate customer accounts, with individual metering planned for eligible consumers.

State Commissioner for Power Paul Usenbo announced the initiative during a stakeholders' meeting in Benin City. He explained that some communities are currently treated as single billing units, meaning individual homes do not have separate accounts or meters linked directly to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company. According to the commissioner, that arrangement makes it harder to identify how much electricity each household actually uses.

The new process will involve identifying consumers, checking customer information and creating individual electricity accounts. Metering is expected to follow for customers who qualify through the relevant programme. Usenbo said the intention is to give residents clearer information about their own consumption and bills while establishing a more direct relationship between customers and the distribution company.

The exercise is planned across all 18 local government areas of Edo State. Several institutions will have roles in its implementation. The state government is expected to coordinate the process, organise engagements with affected stakeholders and address matters within its authority. BEDC will be responsible for areas including customer enumeration, verification and the creation of individual accounts.

The Edo State Metering Programme and its private-sector partners are also expected to provide a route through which eligible households and communities can obtain meters. Usenbo asked residents and community representatives to supply correct information during enumeration and to raise genuine concerns where necessary so problems can be addressed during implementation.

Community cooperation will be particularly important because the programme requires households currently covered by collective billing arrangements to be properly identified and transferred into separate customer records. The commissioner said the state would seek transparency and accountability from the organisations involved while protecting the interests of electricity consumers.

Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission Chairman Shittu Shaibu also addressed the meeting. He called on electricity providers to ensure customers receive power and encouraged residents to allow their properties to be metered.

Henry Onovwaka, Acting Chief Executive Officer of BEDC Subco, said the company was prepared to work with communities willing to leave bulk metering arrangements for individual metering. He also said prepaid meters would be provided to communities participating in the transition.

The state government presents metering as a central part of making electricity billing more transparent for consumers while ensuring service providers can account properly for electricity supplied. The debulking programme is therefore intended to create individual customer relationships in communities where electricity use is currently managed collectively.