Regulator tackles metering, billing, outages, complaints as BYEDC unveils improved supply
The Bayelsa State Electricity Regulatory Agency (BYERA) has launched its first Electricity Service Clinic in Yenagoa as part of efforts to improve power supply and provide faster solutions to complaints by electricity consumers.
The initiative, held at the Alameiyeseigha Banquet Hall under the theme, “Working Together to Make Reliable Electricity a Reality in Bayelsa State,” brought together BYERA, Bayelsa Electricity Distribution Company (BYEDC), Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) and hundreds of electricity consumers.
The clinic provided a platform for consumers to raise issues relating to metering, estimated billing, prolonged outages, tariffs, disputed accounts and wrongful disconnections.
Speaking at the event, BYERA Director-General, Dr RosAlyn Dressman, said the initiative was designed to address years of unresolved complaints and strengthen direct engagement between consumers, regulators and electricity service providers.
She said the agency was committed to developing an electricity market that is “transparent, responsive, fair, investment-friendly and firmly centred on consumer protection.”
“For too long, many electricity consumers have lived with unresolved complaints, estimated bills, metering challenges, prolonged outages, disputed accounts, wrongful disconnections and uncertainty about their rights and responsibilities,” Dressman said.
“This Service Clinic is our response. It brings the regulator, electricity service providers and consumers together in one place to listen, explain, resolve and act.”
According to her, improving the electricity sector requires collective responsibility, with government providing leadership, regulators enforcing accountability, service providers delivering quality services, consumers understanding their rights and responsibilities, and communities protecting electricity infrastructure.
She identified key areas of focus to include increased metering, improved service standards, responsible investment, stronger complaint resolution mechanisms, protection of electricity infrastructure and greater accountability.
“Every consumer deserves to be heard. Every complaint deserves attention. Every service provider must be accountable. And every community in Bayelsa deserves the opportunity to experience reliable electricity,” she said.
Dressman urged consumers to use the platform to present their complaints, ask questions and demand clarity while also fulfilling their responsibilities as electricity customers and citizens.
The Chairman of BYERA, Hon Austin Adigio, said the service clinic was a product of Governor Douye Diri’s political will to take ownership of electricity regulation in the state.
“For too long, the conversation around power has been about complaints. Today we are changing the conversation to one of collaboration and solutions,” Adigio said.
He described reliable electricity as a major driver of jobs, healthcare, education and small businesses, stressing that improved power supply would contribute to the state’s economic growth.
“When the light stays on, Bayelsa prospers,” he said.
The BYERA chairman urged consumers to come with their bills, meter numbers and account details, describing the clinic as a platform to seek clarification and resolve complaints.
He also charged electricity distribution companies to demonstrate transparency, accountability and prompt action on complaints, assuring that BYERA would continue to regulate in the public interest.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of BYEDC said the company had improved electricity supply to some parts of the state through a combination of power from the national grid and the state-owned gas turbine.
He disclosed that some customers were currently enjoying up to 20 hours of electricity supply daily, while some areas connected to the gas turbine were also receiving extended supply.
According to him, the availability of power in some areas depends on whether supply is coming from the national grid or the state-owned turbine.
He, however, identified vandalism as one of the major challenges confronting electricity distribution in the state.
“One of the major challenges is unauthorised people having access to the network. They go there, vandalise transformers, they carry the cables, cut the lines. That affects both the customer and the service provider,” he said.
The high point of the event was the formal presentation of a licence certificate by BYERA to BYEDC, marking the official operational mandate of the state-owned electricity distribution company in Bayelsa.
