MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) has held a two-day customer engagement and on-the-spot complaint resolution exercise for its customers in Nsukka, Enugu State.
The event, which formed part of the company’s strategy to regularly interface with customers, keep them abreast of developments in its operations, listen to their concerns and obtain feedback on its service delivery.
Declaring the event open, the Managing Director/CEO of MEDL, Dr Ernest Mupwaya, represented by the Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Ikenna Akabogu, appreciated customers for honouring the invitation and called for sustained partnership and support in the company’s efforts to improve service delivery.
He noted that electricity distribution was ultimately about the people and businesses the company serves.
“As part of our Business Transformation Plan, 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.”
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He added that the engagement was designed to provide customers with an opportunity to present their concerns directly to the company’s representatives while also receiving updates on plans to improve electricity supply and customer service.
“For the next two days, our teams will engage directly with customers across Nsukka. The objective 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.”
According to Mupwaya, the forum was aimed at building 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.
He explained that revenue generated from electricity consumption enables the company to maintain transformers, replace damaged equipment and invest in improving power supply.
Mupwaya said the company’s ambition was 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 to make its operations more efficient and responsive.
He assured customers that Nsukka remained an important part of the company’s plans.
The MEDL chief executive also urged customers to protect electricity infrastructure in their communities and reject practices such as meter bypass, energy theft and vandalism.
A major highlight of the event was a free medical check-up organised for customers. The company described the initiative as a modest expression of its commitment to the communities it serves and a demonstration that its relationship with customers should go beyond the payment of electricity bills.
“Beyond electricity-related matters, we also want this forum to provide some additional value to our customers,” he said.
On metering, Mupwaya said MainPower was targeting 100 per cent metering of its customers by 2027, stressing the company’s desire to ensure that every customer has an appropriate meter and pays only for the electricity actually consumed.
He reiterated the company’s vision of building an electricity network capable of supporting businesses, schools, hospitals, agriculture, households and broader economic development across Nsukka and Enugu State.
In his remarks, the Chief Technical Officer, Engr. Chimezie Chukwu, highlighted some of the company’s initiatives aimed at improving the quality and reliability of electricity supply to customers.
He disclosed plans for the installation of an additional 15MVA power transformer to boost supply and support the industrialisation of Nsukka.
Chukwu also spoke about 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.
He advised residents to desist from constructing structures or engaging in commercial activities under power lines. He also cautioned against the use of substandard electrical materials and urged residents to engage competent electrical contractors for building wiring and related works.
Customers who attended the engagement expressed satisfaction with the opportunity to air their concerns and have some of their complaints resolved on the spot.
They commended MainPower for organising the exercise and called for similar engagements to be held more regularly.
Hon. John Eze, who represented His Royal Majesty, Igwe Dr. Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, the Chairman of the Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers and the traditional ruler of Edem-Ani, commended MainPower for the improvement in electricity supply to Nsukka and urged customers to embrace a culture of energy management and pay their bills to enable MainPower to continue to serve them better.
Chinedu Ugwu, Chairman/Coordinator, convener of Naijainclusive Electricity Customer Advocacy Intervention (NECAI), also commended the Quick Response Team for its efforts and urged the company to sustain the initiative. He appealed for faster resolution of customer complaints and implementation of resolutions of the state regulatory commission.
Pastor Chidozie Ani of Barracks expressed appreciation to MainPower for organising the programme and commended what he described as an “amazing improvement” in the company’s customer service.
“It is unlike before,” he said, while also calling for faster response to customers’ metering needs.
The Head of Customer Service, Mrs. Ijeoma Ogudebe, thanked customers for making time to attend the engagement.
She informed them of the various channels available for enquiries and complaints and assured them that feedback gathered during the exercise would be effectively utilised to improve the company’s processes and ultimately deliver better and more responsive services to customers.
