Femi Salawu

*UPDATE ON MY EKEDC METERING AND SOLAR POWER STORY* _______ 1. I have been astounded by public reaction to my story of 19-Oct-2026 of how EKEDC billed me and ordered my meter disconnection for not consuming their electricity. I received calls and messages from far and wide even from people I didn't know. The story generated considerable interest nationwide. 2. The events that followed my story give me further confidence that Nigerians are good people and genuinely want a better country. Consider this: I posted my story on two WhatsApp platforms in the afternoon. Before the end of the day, possibly up to 10 people who didn't know me but saw it forwarded it to NERC (the regulator). NERC immediately forwarded it to EKEDC demanding an explanation. Meanwhile, EKEDC was separately being innundated by many more Nigerians demanding explanation for what happened! Within 24h, I had received calls from 3 EKEDC managers apologizing profusely for what happened and promising to replace my meter (which I don't believe is faulty) with a smart meter within a week! All the calls from EKEDC were very sincerely polite. 3. I thank everyone who did anything to publicize or help resolve the matter. I want everyone of such people to know that they are helping to make Nigeria a better country. 4. The incident has thrown up an issue which I had been aware of all along but which has hardly been publicly discussed. This is it: As more Nigerians resort to renewable energy, mostly solar, to help themselves out of the dual whammy of poor availability and higher (Band A) tariff for public power, what are the implications for the DisCos (the electricity distribution companies)? 5. The incident at my property was basically that an EKEDC personnel assumed that if their power meter at a property is not running while electrical appliances are running, then it is either that the resident has fraudulently bypassed the meter or that the meter is faulty. It did not cross his mind that the customer could be on a completely different supply system. Clearly, an immediate action for all DisCos is to sensitise their field staff to this reality. 6. So, how does a DisCo establish that a meter that isn't running has neither been bypassed nor is faulty? In my opinion, DisCos should have a right to demand verification perhaps monthly. The verification would be like what I had done with better-informed EKEDC field inspectors in the past: For a few minutes, bypass the solar inverter to switch to public power, and watch the meter register consumption. That should satisfy the field inspector. 7. However, beyond this controversy, there is an ominous threat to the entire public power sector. Here it is: In many countries, public power business is sustained largely by industrial consumers who typically pay the highest tariff. Those high tariffs make it possible for the power companies to charge affordable tariffs for domestic consumption. However, in Nigeria, most serious industries have invested in their own power generation. This leaves the public power companies relying on domestic consumers for sustenance. Today, the "Band A" customers bear the brunt of the high tariffs that keep the DisCos afloat. 8. It turns out that the Band A consumers are also usually the consumers with the financial resources to invest in solar power that can take them off-grid totally. And that is happening fast. The result is dwindling income for DisCos. 9. My view is that DisCos must reinvent themselves to survive. Today, they all rely on power allocated to them from the national grid to serve their customers. That is not sustainable. They need a new business model. Thanks again, everyone. Raphael Awoseyin 21-Oct-2026.