Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
As part of efforts to close the metering gap among electricity consumers, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), at the weekend, issued permits to the first set of companies under its Meter Asset Providers (MAPs) and ordered rollout of meters from May 1, 2019.
In a statement, the Cnnommission said it issued the permit in accordance with section 4(3) of the MAP Regulations 2018, to MAPs that were successful in the procurements conducted by Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc (“AEDC”) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company Plc (“JEDC”).
“Section 4(3) of the MAP Regulation 2018 requires all electricity distribution licensees to engage MAPs that would assist, as investors, in closing the metering gap and thus eliminating the practice of estimated billing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (“NESI”)” it said.
AEDC has appointed Mojec International Limited, Meron Consortium and Turbo Engineering Limited to provide 487,000, 213,000 and 200,000 meters respectively while JEDC has appointed the Triple 7 and Mojec International Limited consortium to provide 500,000 meters.
The Commission has directed that the rollout of meters shall commence not later than May 1, 2019.
“Customers of AEDC and JEDC should expect from the commencement of rollout date for meters to be installed in their premises within 10 working days of making payment to MAPs in accordance with section 18 (3) of the MAP Regulations 2018.
The statement said that MAPs shall charge a maximum of N36,991.50 for single phase meters and N67,055.85 for three phase meters. These costs are inclusive of supply, installation, maintenance and replacement of meters over its technical life.
The Commission shall monitor closely the rollout plan of distribution licensees and overall compliance with the regulation and various service agreements by the MAP and electricity distribution licensees.
Recall that the issue of metering has remained an albatross to the electricity industry to the extent that a bill is now being considered in national assembly to make estimated billing system an offence.
Also, in December last year when NERC announced the introduction of MAP, Chairman of NERC accused the distribution companies of frustrating the efforts of Federal Government over their lukewarm attitude toward providing meters to customs.