According to electricity distribution companies, there are two kinds of electricity users. A customer and a consumer. We often wonder; aren’t they the same set of people? Let’s find out.
A customer is an individual that buys goods and services from another business and a consumer is a person who consumes goods and services, he/she may or may not pay for the commodity.
Electricity customers are actually those that pay for the electricity they consume without altering the value, whereas, electricity consumers make use of the power, and carry out several things to dodge paying for what they consume while settling in their minds that the electricity has been paid for by a different entity.
In Nigeria, there exists a high percentage of electricity consumers. Activities like meter bypass, illegal connections, and tampering with electric meters, are carried out by electricity consumers. This practice depreciates the financial sustenance of the power sector and retards new funding in the utility. It affects the ability of utility companies to meet up with their financial commitment, and network development scheme. Furthermore, other parts of the value chain such as the transmission company and generation companies are affected as well because they receive insufficient payments for power generated and transmitted.
The reason behind this unlawful practice in our society is because consumers do not regard stealing electricity as immoral, instead, they believe it is their basic social right to obtain electricity and not pay for it. Our power sector cannot be viable if the majority of electricity users are consumers, not customers.
Finally, having gotten the concept of an electricity customer and electricity consumer; what can You be classified as?