In the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23), despite assurances from the federal government, the growth in the installation of prepaid meters remained sluggish. The number of prepaid meters installed increased by 3.95% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), reaching a total of 171,107 units. This modest rise came in comparison to the 164,612 meters that had been installed during the fourth quarter of 2022.
This situation indicates that the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) continue to face challenges in fulfilling the demand for prepaid meters from both households and businesses. Consequently, consumers are still being subjected to the unfair and exploitative practice of estimated billing for their electricity usage.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) revealed these findings in its first-quarter report. However, the report did not provide specific details regarding the month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY) changes in prepaid meter installations during this period.
“A total of 171,107 meters were installed in 2023/Q1, representing an The report stated: increase of 6,495 installations (+3.95%) compared to the 164,612 meters installed in 2022/Q4.
“The new installations resulted in a 1.06 percentage points, pp increase in net end-user metering rate in the NESI between 2022/Q4 (42.25%) and 2023/Q1 (43.31%). 158,634 meters were installed under the MAP intervention while 9,931 meters were installed under the NMMP scheme.
“The Commission expects DisCos to utilise any of the five (5) meter financing mechanisms that have been provided in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations (NERC – R – 113 – 2021) to close their respective metering gaps.
“As a safeguard for customers against exploitation due to the lack of meters, the Commission has continued to issue monthly energy caps for all feeders in each DisCo. This sets the maximum amount of energy that may be billed to an unmetered customer for the respective month based on gross energy received by the DisCo and the consumption by metered customers,” the report states.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has already made public that a significant number of consumers have raised concerns about different irregularities. NERC emphasized that, during the first quarter of 2023 (2023/Q1), the Distribution Companies (DisCos) collectively registered a total of 249,683 complaints from consumers. This figure reflects a decrease of 11,595 complaints, equivalent to a 4.44% reduction, compared to the number of complaints received in the fourth quarter of 2022 (2022/Q4).
“In total, the DisCos resolved 229,101 complaints corresponding to a 91.76% resolution rate which is similar to the 91.38% recorded in 2022/Q4.
Metering, billing, and service interruption were the prevalent sources of customer complaints, accounting for more than 79% of the total complaints during the quarter.”
