By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The federal government has perfected plans to take delivery taking delivery of 3.2 million smart meters to be delivered and installed for customers across Nigeria free of charge.
Of the number, close to 700,000 had already been delivered with about 200,000 installed as part of the federal government’s measure to close the 5.66 million metering gap, Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)
Mr Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi disclosed on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with representatives of 11 Electricity Distribution Companies ( DISCOs) , Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission ( NERC), Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company ( NELCOM) and other stakeholders in electricity sector.
The federal government’s free metering initiative is a World Bank $500 million loan under the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) to improve electricity Distribution Companies’ (DisCos) performance.
Approved in 2021 and finalized 2024, the initiative focuses on closing the metering gap, reducing estimated billing, and enhancing financial, technical operations. The free delivery and installation is rooted in the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) regulated by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in which meter costs have been paid to the Contractor to be recouped through MYTO.
Giving updates on metering and federal government efforts to close the gaps, Ariyo Gbeleyi said:” As at the last count, based on the recent NERC report, we have about 5.66 million unmetered customers within the Nigerian electricity supply industry ecosystem, and the strategy or the policy intervention here is to quickly bridge that gap by eliminating that gap in the industry.
Under this , in phase one international competitive bidding, we have 1,437,500 units of meters, both in single phase and triple phase, being imported and currently being installed. Of that, about 700,000 units are already in the country. We have close to 200,000 in terms of installation. There is a national competitive bidding aspect of it, which also envisages 217,000 meters to be provided by local manufacturers”.
This is phase two of the international competitive bidding, which also envisages importing about 1,550,000 meters. So we are here today just to also present to the gentlemen of the press and the entire country what this whole program is all about”, BPE DG revealed.
His clarification stems from the recent controversy trailing the exact status of DISREP. Ariyo Gbeleyi spoke on the exact status of the World Bank funded metering scheme, reiterating that, it’s free both delivery and installation saying that it does not require customers to pay a dime.
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” There have been few controversies, so to say, back and forth with regards to payment for these meters. So the essence of this media briefing is to clarify all the grey areas as they may be, and educate the public in terms of details and the modus operandi of the deployment of these meters under the distribution sector recovery program. And, as you can see, all the stakeholders are here. It’s a collaborative effort that has been led at ministerial level by the Minister of Power, as well as the BPE co-chairing the technical committee, with all other stakeholders actively involved; the NERC and NEMSA, that is also carrying out the verification and then testing of the meters before they are deployed”.
” it’s not just about government policy and intervention. It is also about hearing directly from them that these meters are not meant to be paid for upfront by customers. And this is a major policy initiative of Mr. President in terms of ensuring that we have access to reliable supply of power in the industry”, he said further.
He enjoined Nigeria electricity consumers to endeavor to pay for power consumed, noting that”we cannot have power if we are not paying for that power. So as we consume, we’re also expected to pay, because this will also help in terms of industry sustainability, in terms of industry liquidity, in terms of industry bankability, and ability to attract immediate financing to complement government.
