- The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission said electricity distribution companies installed 185,439 meters across Nigeria in the fourth quarter of 2024
- It said the meters were installed under the Meter Asset Providers framework, Meter Acquisition Fund, Vendor Financed, and Disco Financed frameworks
- NERC said it will continue to enforce regulations to guard against the exploitation of unmetered consumers
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reports that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed a total of 185,439 meters in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024.
NERC disclosed this in its 2024 Fourth Quarter Report, published on its website on Tuesday, March 25.
The report showed that the number of meters installed in Q4 2024 represented a 0.19 per cent increase from the 185,087 meters installed in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.
It noted that the new installations led to a 0.42 percentage point increase in the net end-user metering rate across all DisCos.
It said the total number of installed meters increased from 46.15 per cent in Q3 2024 to 46.57 per cent in Q4 2024.
Meters installed under MAP, MAF, vendor-financed, DisCo-financed frameworks
The NERC further stated that the meters installed in the quarter were done under the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) framework, Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), Vendor Financed framework, and Disco Financed framework.
“During the quarter, 179,064 meters, representing 96.56 per cent of the total installations, were installed under the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) framework while 4,076 meters were installed under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF).
“Also, 1,924 meters were installed under the Vendor Financed framework, while 374 meters were installed under the DisCo Financed framework,” it said.
NERC added that DisCos were expected to utilise all available frameworks outlined in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations, along with the MAF, to bridge the existing metering gap.
NERC commits to guard against exploitation of unmetered consumers
The NERC also stressed that it will continue enforcing monthly energy caps for all feeders under each DisCos to avoid the exploitation of unmetered electricity consumers.
“As a safeguard against customer exploitation due to lack of meters, the commission continues to enforce monthly energy caps for all feeders under each DisCo.
“This sets the maximum amount of energy that may be billed to an unmetered customer for the respective month.
“This is based on the gross energy received by the DisCo and consumption by metered customers on their respective feeders,” the report said
The report also noted that the NERC certified 18 Meter Service Providers (MSPs), six meter installer companies, six manufacturers, three vendors, and three importers in Q4 2024.
It added that the NERC also issued 15 permits for MAP in the period under review.
FG to distribute 2 million prepaid meters to Nigerians in 2025, 10 million in 5 years
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Federal Government said it would purchase two million prepaid meters for distribution to Nigerians in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
The government said it aims to distribute 10 million prepaid meters over the next five years under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) to improve the country’s electricity billing system.
