Only 115,767 Nigerian energy users received metering devices between April and July, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, which covered four months.
Just 6,053,497 houses and businesses nationwide have been metered as of July, out of 13,293,739 registered energy users, according to data, as reported by ThisDaylive.com.
This suggests that more than 7.24 million Nigerians who use electricity do not currently have metering devices in their homes or places of business and that the energy Distribution Companies (Discos) are using opaque estimated billing practices as a result.
According to the most recent data provided by NERC, the regulator of the power sector, just 23,724 Nigerians were provided with meters in April, although a vast majority of the country’s population lacks access to meters. 8,733 people received meters in May, 12,854 people received them in June, and 70,456 people received them in July, a significant increase, according to the data.
To highlight the magnitude of the metering problem in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), the NERC data also revealed that, during the four months under review, the majority of customer complaints were connected to meters. Nigeria has struggled with inadequate metering for a long time, despite the federal government’s repeated but erratic attempts to solve the problem with financial regulatory measures.
The Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) are a few of the metering schemes that have been implemented recently.
Continuing, even though Discos are required by law to install, maintain, and reliably read meters to bill end-user consumers, the electricity distributors have continuously complained about financial difficulties. Before, the commission stipulated that Discos’ installation should take no more than ten working days following payment. However, many Nigerians wait years to get their devices fitted, demonstrating how the regulation is typically broken.
In addition to gradually eliminating estimated billing, metering all end-user customers by the Discos is anticipated to increase energy billing and revenue collection accuracy, both of which will benefit Nigeria’s electrical value chain. To promote infrastructure development, it will further provide the industry with much-needed liquidity.
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This month at a NERC meeting with investors/owners of Discos in Abuja, Prof. Barth Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and current Chairman of Aba Power, stated: “No matter what level of bypass you have from metering, in the end, metering is a key enabler to curb collection losses. Once you have metered, you can also invest in the intelligence to reduce infractions.”
In April, the metering rate was 44.67 percent; in May, it was 45.39 percent; in June, it was 45.43 percent; and in July, it was 45.54 percent, as per the NERC factsheets covering the four months.
Ikeja Disco regularly led the metering rate table during the review period, with 73.13 percent in April, 76.25 percent in May, 76.64 percent in June, and 76.64 percent in July. Abuja Disco, with percentages of 61.19 in April, 70.02 in May, 70.17 in June, and 70.48 in July, trailed Ikeja in the rankings.
The federal government said in August that it had raised N100 billion for the purchase of prepaid power meters to bridge the metering gap with the sub-nationals.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, hinted that many consumers were not paying their bills because they thought the power distribution firms were defrauding them through approximated billing.
Adelabu explained that this was part of the Presidential Meter Initiative (PMI) scheme. Adelabu explained that metering would guarantee transparency and characterized the issue as self-inflicted, emphasizing that metering investment will assist in resolving many of the sector’s problems.
According to the minister: “In the PMI, we have made good progress in sourcing the fund for this, and it is going to be by a combination of the federal and state governments. Today, we have received and we have seen about N100 billion that will go into the procurement of meters.”
In addition, he said that to boost revenue for its financially challenged power sector, the federal government planned to purchase 3.5 million electricity meters by the end of the year.
Adelabu said that due to their restricted capacity, local manufacturers would only be able to furnish a smaller portion of the supply, with the majority coming from overseas vendors.
