Data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission reveals that only 115,767 customers received meters between April and July, exposing metering challenges in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
Recent data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) highlights the ongoing Nigerian electricity metering challenges. Between April and July, only 115,767 customers received meters.
Out of 13,293,739 registered electricity customers, just 6,053,497 homes and offices had metering devices as of July.
This leaves over 7.24 million customers without meters, relying on opaque estimated billing practices by Distribution Companies (Discos).
The NERC data revealed that in April, only 23,724 meters were distributed. May saw just 8,733, June only 12,854, and in July, the figure rose to 70,456. The situation has led to a significant number of customer complaints, with metering issues topping the list.
Despite several government initiatives like the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) and the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), inadequate metering persists. Discos cite financial constraints as a barrier to installing meters, although regulations mandate timely installation after payment.
Metering all customers is crucial to eliminating estimated billing and improving energy billing accuracy. The metering drive is also expected to inject liquidity into the power sector, facilitating infrastructure growth.
In August, the government raised N100 billion to procure prepaid meters, aiming to source 3.5 million meters by year’s end, with the bulk coming from international vendors due to local capacity limitations.
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