Edo Begins Statewide Plan to End Bulk Electricity Billing, Introduce Individual Meters

The Edo State Government has launched a statewide exercise to move electricity consumers from community-wide bulk billing to individual customer accounts and, eventually, individual meters. The initiative involves the state government, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), community leaders, regulators and the Edo State Metering Programme.

The government says the exercise is intended to improve billing transparency, help consumers understand their electricity usage and establish clearer relationships between individual customers and electricity providers.

The Edo State Government announced the commencement of the statewide debulking exercise on Thursday, October 8, 2026, during a stakeholders’ engagement in Benin.

Commissioner for Power Paul Usenbo said the programme would address the situation in communities where electricity is supplied and billed collectively, rather than through individual customer accounts.

Under the existing bulk-billing arrangement, households may not have separate electricity accounts or meters. This can make it difficult to determine how much electricity individual consumers use and establish a direct billing relationship between each customer and BEDC.

The new process is expected to begin with the enumeration and validation of electricity consumers. Individual customer accounts would then be created, followed by the deployment of meters to eligible consumers.

Usenbo said the exercise would cover all 18 local government areas in Edo State.

He also called on residents and community leaders to provide accurate information and participate in the enumeration process.

The commissioner said the state government would coordinate the exercise and facilitate engagement among the different stakeholders, while BEDC would be responsible for important parts of customer enumeration, validation and account creation.

The Edo State Metering Programme, together with private-sector partners, is also expected to provide a route through which eligible customers and communities can participate in the metering process.

At the meeting, Shittu Shaibu, Chairman of the Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, urged electricity providers to make power available to customers and encouraged residents to permit the installation of meters at their homes.

Henry Onovwaka, Acting Chief Executive Officer of BEDC Subco, said the company was prepared to support communities willing to move from bulk billing to individual metering. He also said the company would provide the necessary prepaid meters.

The move could change how electricity consumption is recorded and billed in communities that currently operate under bulk arrangements.

For households, individual meters would provide a direct way to monitor electricity consumption instead of relying on a community-wide billing arrangement. It could also make it easier for consumers to identify how much electricity is associated with their individual accounts.

For electricity providers, individual customer accounts and meters can provide more precise consumption information and establish a clearer customer relationship.

The Edo government also says metering is important to improving accountability, transparency and sustainability in the state's electricity system.

However, the announcement represents the beginning of a transition. It does not mean that every household in Edo has already received an individual prepaid meter.

Key Questions

What is electricity debulking?

In this context, debulking means moving away from a system where electricity consumers in a community are handled collectively for billing purposes and creating individual customer accounts.

The longer-term objective is individual metering, allowing electricity consumption to be measured separately for eligible customers.

Who will be affected?

The exercise is intended to cover communities across Edo State's 18 local government areas, particularly consumers currently operating under bulk electricity billing arrangements.

What happens before a household receives a meter?

The announced process involves customer enumeration and validation first, followed by the creation of individual accounts. Meter deployment would then take place for eligible consumers.

Is bulk billing ending immediately?

No. The government has launched the process of transitioning away from bulk billing. The available information does not establish that bulk billing has already ended across Edo State.

Who is responsible for the exercise?

The state government is coordinating the initiative, while BEDC has a role in customer enumeration, validation and account creation. The Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Edo State Metering Programme, community leaders, residents and private-sector partners are also involved.

The initiative comes as Edo continues to develop its state-level electricity regulatory framework.

The practical challenge addressed by the debulking exercise is the gap between community-level electricity supply and individual consumer accountability. Where customers are not separately metered, determining individual consumption can be more difficult.

The state's stated approach is therefore to establish individual customer records before moving toward individual metering.

The government has also stressed that community participation is necessary, meaning residents are expected to cooperate with enumeration and allow access for metering where required.

The immediate next stage is customer enumeration and validation in affected communities.

Residents and community leaders are expected to provide accurate information and participate in the process. BEDC will work on validating customers and creating individual accounts, while the metering programme and its private-sector partners will provide a pathway toward meter deployment for eligible consumers.

The major unresolved issue is how quickly the transition will progress across the state's 18 local government areas and how many households will receive individual meters at each stage.

For now, the confirmed development is that Edo has started the process of moving communities away from bulk electricity billing toward individual accounts and metering.