Performance Turnaround Plan for Addis Ababa Region and Finfine District

The program aims to strengthen the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) and improve its performance. A diagnostic report presented to EEU's management highlighted key findings and issues that need to be addressed through a turnaround plan. The turnaround plan will be implemented in Addis Ababa Region and Finfine District, with a focus on improving utility employees' skills to roll out the plan across the country and ensuring the utility's future sustainability. The program's capacity-building component will enhance the utility's ability to manage its operations and improve its performance. One of the key initiatives is the establishment of an energy accounting (EA) process in Addis Ababa and Finfine District. This process will enable the utility to identify and combat losses, thereby indirectly impacting revenues. To achieve this goal, the EEU will undertake several steps, including identifying substations, feeders, and transformers, installing boundary meters, developing an EA system, registering and mapping each customer to a substation, feeder, and feeder, and operationalizing and beginning to use the EA system. The EA system will enable the utility to account for electrical energy, identify losses, and monitor commercial performance. Additionally, the utility will establish energy-based key performance indicators (KPIs) and power purchase agreements to ensure sustainability in energy accounting. The EA system will also enable the utility to identify and eliminate meter installation irregularities, obsolete, damaged, or nonfunctioning meters, and improve procedures for revenue adjustment. Another key initiative is the revamp of utility commercial operations. This will involve implementing an optimized monthly commercial cycle, allowing for shorter meter-reading periods, longer disconnection and collection periods, time for customer enumeration, and time for field-inspection activities. The utility will also rearrange its billing activities, allocate large power users to respective Service Centers, make Service Centers responsible for customers with prepaid meters, establish reporting mechanisms, and standardize reporting. The revamp of commercial operations will lead to optimized commercial cycles, more accurate energy accounting reports, disciplined employees, increased revenues, better employee workload management, established processes for locating and registering customers, prepaid meters under control, sufficient time for customers to pay, and better customer satisfaction. The utility will also establish a commercial loss reduction program, which will involve analyzing EA reports monthly for targeted inspections, regularly analyzing customer consumption profiles, conducting targeted and random inspections, identifying and eliminating meter installation irregularities, and improving procedures for revenue adjustment. The program will also establish a revenue protection department to oversee the utility's activities. The department will be responsible for developing a scope of work and standard operating procedures, job descriptions, and setting KPIs. The department will also institute follow-up and reporting mechanisms and train relevant staff. The revenue protection department will ensure effective staff, greater accountability, strict implementation of utility policies, and increased revenues.