MainPower calls for partnership, support to improve electricity service delivery
The MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) has called for sustained partnership and support of customers and residents to improve electricity service delivery.
The Managing Director of MainPower, Dr Ernest Mupwaya, made the appeal on Friday in an opening address at a two-day Customers’ Engagement and On-the-Spot Complaint Resolutions Exercise in Nsukka, Enugu State.
Represented by the the Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Ikenna Akabogu, the managing director said that the engagement was part of the
company’s strategy to regularly interface with customers.
Mupwaya said that the engagement was meant to keep customers abreast of developments in its operations, listen to their concerns and obtain feedback on its service delivery.
According to him, electricity distribution is ultimately about the people and businesses the company serves.
He said, “As part of our Business Transformation Plan (BTP), MainPower has made a deliberate decision to engage our customers every quarter, either physically or through online platforms.
“We do not want to engage customers only when there is a complaint or crisis. Regular dialogue must become part of the way we do business.
“The objective of the engagement is to hear first-hand your concerns and expectations, provide an onsite one-stop shop for resolving lingering issues, and update you on our plans for improving electricity supply and service delivery.”
The MainPower boss said that the engagement would build a stronger relationship between the company and its customers through communication, mutual accountability, trust and measurable improvements in service delivery.
He said the company had a responsibility to provide reliable electricity supply, accurate billing and responsive customer service, while customers also had a responsibility to pay their electricity bills promptly.
Mupwaya explained that revenue generated from electricity consumption enables the company to maintain transformers, replace damaged equipment and invest in improving power supply.
“The company’s ambition is to build a customer-focused, professionally managed and technology-driven organisation, with strategic priorities that include improving supply reliability, accelerating metering, strengthening the distribution network, improving customer service, reducing losses and deploying technology.”
On metering, Mupwaya said MainPower was targeting 100 per cent metering of its customers by 2027, stressing the company’s desired to ensure that every customer had an appropriate meter and pays only for electricity actually consumed.
In his remarks, the Chief Technical Officer, Mr Chimezie Chukwu, highlighted some of the company’s initiatives aimed at improving the quality and reliability of electricity supply to customers.
Chukwu disclosed plans for the installation of an additional 15MVA power transformer to boost supply and support the industrialisation of Nsukka and its general area.
He stressed on the Quick Response Team (QRT), introduced by the company to facilitate the prompt resolution of faults.
He urged customers to take advantage of the initiative by contacting the dedicated line or the company’s call centre whenever they experience supply-related challenges so they can be tracked and monitored.
The Head of Health, Safety and Environment, Dr. Francis Iwu, sensitised customers on unsafe acts and conditions prevalent within the electricity network, emphasising the need for residents to prioritise safety.
Iwu expressed concern over what he described as the increasing violation of power-line rights of way in Nsukka, warning that the practice posed serious risks to residents.