By: Our Reporter
The Ondo State Government and the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc have agreed to a partnership to meter thousands of houses in the state as part of the ongoing state government-led metering intervention scheme code-named O’datiwa Meters Initiative.
This was the resolution at the end of a high-powered meeting held on Monday between the Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Transition Committee led by the duo of of its Chairman, Olatunji Ariyomo, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Energy, Johnson Alabi, with the top management staff of BEDC led by its Managing Director/CEO, Mr Deolu Ijose.
About one million houses in the state are expected to benefit from the end of the month of August when the Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa is expected to formally flag off the distribution of the meters.
The goal of the Aiyedatiwa administration’s meter intervention is to end estimated billings in the state.
Speaking during the presentation of the bilateral resolutions between the teams, Ariyomo, the Chairman at the joint session, announced that the parties have agreed “to create a joint committee to smoothing the collaboration processes in the interest of members of the public and that the collaboration with BEDC was necessary to ensure that every meter is properly enrolled in the network”.
The Ondo State Government had earlier approved the Oda’tiwa Meter Scheme in the month of July 2024. The intervention covers the three senatorial districts and is being supervised by the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy through the Ondo State Power Company.
The involvement of BEDC in the scheme means that the goal of the state government to eliminate the problem of estimated billings has now received the support of the Disco.
Speaking at the presentation of the resolutions, the MD of BEDC commended the rapport and gave assurance that the distribution company is ready to support the State Government to end estimated billing as well as jointly work together to improve electricity supplies across the state.
In his reaction, the Special Adviser to the Governor stated that BEDC is expected to integrate subscribers that have enrolled via the official portal provided by the state government as part of a seamless integration process with all issues of pricing mutually addressed by the two parties.
The parties further agreed to an implementation schedule in the hope of sorting all outstanding issues to ensure that the Governor can flag off the meters for distribution in earnest.
