The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has unveiled plans to provide four million prepaid meters for electricity consumers in the country.
The NERC’s Commissioner, Consumers Affairs, Hajia Aisha Mahmud, who made this disclosure in Jos at the Customers’ Complaints Resolution Meeting, pointed out that providing meters for electricity consumers had been a key challenge in the power sector over the past years.
The commissioner noted that the challenge of delivering meters to customers would soon be over based on the commitment of the government to the implementation of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMP) and other initiatives.
She said: “Actually, metering is one of the biggest challenges that we have been facing in the last couple of years in the commission.
”I don’t think this is funny given that so many investments have been made in the power sector.
”It is said that in Nigeria, electricity generation started in Lagos as far back as 1826 with 20 megawatts. 126 years down the line, we are still talking about basic things such as metering, a phase we should have passed a long time ago”, Mahmud added.
Also, the Commissioner disclosed that the first phase of the NMP implementation resulted in over one million meters provided by the government for consumers, stressing that in the next phase, which will be funded through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), about four million meters will be distributed, through the DisCos, to electricity consumers nationwide
She clarified: “Aside from many interventions in that regard, including the phase zero of the NMP where over one million meters were provided, the first phase of the initiative will make available four million meters to customers.
”We shall make available these meters to customers through the distribution companies and this is to show that the regulator is not just sitting but making efforts to see that all Nigerians have access to meters.
”So, we shall do all it takes as regulators to ensure that the issue of metering becomes a thing of the past. I strongly believe that with the plans ahead, we will overcome this challenge soon”, the industry expert added.
Speaking on the upward review of tariffs over the past months, Mahmud linked the surging inflation rate, depreciation in exchange rate of the Naira, cost of gas, and labour costs as the main factors responsible for the increasing tariffs.
