By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) has commenced the second phase of its free prepaid meter distribution under “Tranche B” of the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) metering program, a metering initiative instituted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to close the existing metering gap in the sector and put an end to estimated billing.

The Group Head, Corporate Communications of EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The metering program, funded through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) “Tranche B”, is targeted at unmetered customers on service band “A” feeders across the South-East region.

According to Ezeh, a total of 13,335 customers of EEDC, including those of its subsidiary companies, will be beneficiaries in this phase of the metering program which began on 2nd November 2025, with the Know Your Customer (KYC) validation exercise.

He affirmed that the free metering initiative is funded through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), instituted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and customers are not expected to pay to have these meters installed in their facilities.

“These meters and their installation are free, and customers are cautioned against making any form of payment to the meter installers or succumbing to any form of inducement or extortion” Ezeh said.

"This aligns with our organization’s commitment to improving service transparency and customer satisfaction."

He emphasized that this program prioritizes customers under Band “A” feeders and urged customers to verify and update their contact information by visiting the Customer Service Unit at the distribution company’s office serving them.

“Our team will be reaching out to customers on this metering exercise using the information provided in their profile with the company”, Ezeh added.

Ezeh recounted that earlier this year, EEDC had successfully completed “Tranche A” of the MAF metering program, where a total of 13,614 band “A” customers were metered.

He assured that once all customers under band “A” are metered, attention will then move to those in band “B”, emphasizing that the idea is to systematically close the existing metering gap across the network.

He further appealed to customers who would not be captured in the current “Tranche B” MAF metering exercise to remain patient, as another metering initiative - the Distribution Sector Recovery Project (DISREP) is underway.

He warned against bypassing these prepaid meters when they are installed as that would not only defeat the whole essence of the exercise, but undermine the efforts being made to instil efficiency and revenue protection.

"Customers should avoid engaging in meter bypass, energy theft, and all other illegal activities, and should report anyone engaging in such criminal activity."

He urged customers to reach out to the company via its call centre on 02084700100 or its WhatsApp lines on 0707 461 0095 and 0707 461 0088, for further inquiries.

Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) is a pool of funds contributed by all distribution companies in the country, which is used for procurement of prepaid meters for deployment to customers free of charge. The program is overseen by a fund manager and NERC.