PHED Vow to End Metre Bypass, Corruption in Franchise Areas
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) Plc has vowed to end the challenges of metre bypass, equipment vandalism, corruption, and other vices in the franchise areas.
The Managing Director of PHED, Dr Benson Uwheru who made the vow during a meeting with journalists in Port Harcourt, said the company was determined to ensure better services for its valued customers.
Dr Uwheru said despite the noted challenges, PHED under his leadership, will ensure a stable network across the franchise areas of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers States.
“We believe that we are a team that works with reliability and integrity towards providing quality customers services and that core value has become the foundation of our transformation. Our people all over our franchise areas connect with these values.
“The power business is very important business, and we know the challenges in the sector: from issues of metre bypass, energy theft, corruption in sector and all kinds of limitations that impact the growth of the sector.
“However, we are resolute and determine to ensure that in spite of the challenges that face us in the sector, we have an ultimate objective to provide value for our customers who are captured in our database, who have a number allocated to them, either as a prepaid customer or estimated customers”.
Dr Uwheru appreciated all PHED customers and disclosed that the company is working towards reducing the unmetered consumers from 40 percent to at least 20 percent.
“About 60 percent of customers are metered. What this means is that about 40 percent of our customers are unmetered. I can say between now and December we are going to push aggressively and reduce the 40 percent to another 10 to 20 percent, which is possible”.
Dr Uwheru noted the increase in revenue collection from N4.3billion to N5.2billion in a month. He credited the achievements to the company’s new transformation strategy and the support of their customers.
“Upon resumption, we hit the ground running and we have achieved quite a few milestones. We met the business at N4.3 billion bill collection by the time we took over and by the end of August 31, 2022, we have hit a new milestone in the history of our collection in PHED, a N5.2billion collection history was achieved through the help and support of our people and that is in line with our transformation agenda”.
