The Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is plagued with challenges. A lot of these challenges are, however, found in the distribution sub-sector. A major cause of the problems faced by Distribution Companies (DisCos) is a poor relationship with their customers. Who knows? Maybe addressing the poor DisCo-customer relationship could be the beginning of the end of the electricity sector’s issues.
To begin with, the majority of electricity customers in Nigeria are unaware of the electricity services their DisCos provide. Many customers do not even know the tariff bands they fall under or if there are tariff bands. In addition, some customers do not know they have rights and responsibilities as stipulated by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The worse case is that a lot of customers do not know their DisCos.
Customers not being able to relate properly with their DisCos causes a lot of avoidable circumstances. Essentially, the customers are uninformed. When customers are uninformed, they tend not to take information from the DisCos, if any, seriously. This lackadaisical attitude also leads to electricity theft and the vandalism of electrical infrastructure.
When electricity customers interact with their DisCos regularly, it builds trust between both parties. The customers begin to understand their rights and responsibilities and that there are consequences and repercussions for any criminal act aimed at destroying distribution infrastructure. A better DisCo-customer relationship would also lead to an improvement in customers’ willingness to pay bills. All these benefits would help the DisCos reduce their cash shortfalls. An improved DisCo-customer relationship may be the beginning to the end of the sector’s problems.