Adewale Sanyaolu
The management of Ikeja Electric has warned that consumers who fail to procure prepaid meters would no longer enjoy electricity supply.
Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Mr. Antnony Youdeowei, handed down the warning at the launch of its Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The CEO who was represented at the flag-off ceremony by the Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Ugochukwu Obi-Chukwu, said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) mandate was for every Disco to meter all consumers under its network, saying Ikeja Disco was all out to carry out effective implementation of the directive.
MAP is a NERC approved meter vendor whose responsibility is to fund, procure and install meters on behalf of an electricity distribution company. Under the MAP regulation, they are also expected to maintain and ensure the integrity of the meters.
Obi-Chukwu, explained that CIG Metering Assets Nigeria Limited, New Hampshire Capital Limited and Mojec International Limited have been licensed by NERC to procure and install meters for IE customers under the MAP scheme.
He said contrary to insinuations that prepaid meters are free, Obi-Chukwu disclosed that procurement of same remained the responsibility of electricity consumers while customers applying for prepaid meters are expected to visit map.ikejaelectric.com to register.
Giving a breakdown of the cost implication, he said a single phase meter is N38,850 while a three phase meter would cost N70,350 inclusive of five percent Value Added Tax (VAT) of N1,850 and N3,350 respectively.
He disclosed that the target of Ikeja Electric was to meter about 30,000 consumers monthly which will be in phases, starting with customers under Shomolu, Abule-Egba and Ikorodu Business Units.
According to hi, the deployment and installation of prepaid meters to customers in Ikorodu, which will be carried out by one of its MAPs, New Hampshire Capital limited, will commence on June 17th 2019 following the successful registration and subscription for meters by thousands of customers spread across Ikorodu and Epe.