• Discos install 141,746 meters in August, 159,980 in July
•Eko leads with 89.64% coverage, Jos emerges lowest
•Regulator says faulty meters must be fixed within 48 hours
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Nigeria’s electricity metering rate rose marginally to 63.1 per cent in August, but still left about 4.7 million active electricity customers without meters despite several government-backed interventions to close the gap.
The latest metering factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday showed that the number of metered customers increased from 7.90 million in July to 8.05 million in August, while the total number of active customers rose from 12.67 million to 12.75 million over the period.
The figures mean that 4,704,224 customers remained unmetered at the end of August, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing the electricity distribution companies (Discos) and the federal government’s efforts to eliminate estimated billing.
However, the monthly pace of installations slowed, with 141,746 customers newly metered in August, compared with 159,980 in July. The August figure represented a decline of 18,234 installations, or 11.4 per cent, from the previous month.
The marginal improvement in the overall metering rate came as the electricity regulator outlined existing metering interventions and reiterated consumer protections covering meter installation, repairs, billing and disconnection.
A breakdown of the figures showed significant disparities among the 11 Discos, with some achieving relatively high coverage while others continued to lag behind.
For instance, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) recorded the highest metering rate at 89.64 per cent, followed by Ikeja at 87.74 per cent and Abuja at 82.62 per cent.
Port Harcourt also recorded a relatively strong performance, with its metering rate rising to 71 per cent in August from 69.61 per cent in July. Benin improved from 63.21 per cent to 64.41 per cent, while Ibadan’s rate rose from 58.59 per cent to 59.23 per cent.
At the other end of the table, Jos had the lowest metering rate at 37.60 per cent, followed by Yola at 39.15 per cent, Kaduna at 42.32 per cent and Kano at 42.84 per cent.
Enugu also remained below the national average, with a metering rate of 52.40 per cent, despite a marginal improvement from 52.13 per cent in July.
The figures highlight the uneven progress in meter deployment across the country, with the gap between the best-performing and worst-performing DisCos exceeding 52 percentage points.
Separately, NERC outlined several interventions designed to accelerate metering, including the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) and the World Bank-backed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
Under the MAP scheme, private meter asset providers supply meters to customers who pay upfront, with the cost refunded through energy credits. The commission stated that meters procured and installed under the MAF and DISREP schemes are provided to customers at no cost.
The commission also highlighted the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), which is scheduled to begin in 2027 with the deployment of 750,000 meters as part of efforts to close the national metering gap.
The initiative is expected to complement existing programmes, although the latest figures indicate that millions of customers remain dependent on estimated billing.
Beyond meter deployment, NERC restated consumers’ rights under applicable metering and customer-protection regulations.
NERC said meters paid for upfront under the MAP scheme must be installed within 10 days of full payment. It also stated that faulty meters must be repaired or replaced within 48 hours of being reported.
Customers who pay for MAP meters are entitled to reimbursement in full through energy credits generated automatically each month and spread over 120 months, according to the commission. The credits cannot be offset against old debts, it stressed.
The regulator further stated that customers should not be charged for installing meters supplied under the MAF and DISREP programmes. Anyone who pays for a meter under those schemes, it maintained, is entitled to a full refund.
On disconnection disputes, NERC said distribution companies must restore electricity immediately once a customer has resolved the dispute and paid the relevant fees. It added that a Disco cannot charge a reconnection fee where electricity was disconnected without following the proper procedure.
The commission also said customers who are wrongly disconnected are entitled to energy credits equivalent to their average daily consumption for three months for every day they are left without electricity.
For estimated billing, NERC stated that Discos can only estimate bills when they cannot read a customer’s meter, adding that unmetered customers are protected by limits on estimated charges.
The commission advised customers with complaints to first approach their Discos’ Customer Complaints Units and ensure that their complaints are acknowledged. If the matter remains unresolved after 15 days, they can escalate it to the nearest NERC Forum Office and subsequently appeal to the commission’s headquarters.
For customers in states operating under transitioned regulatory arrangements, the regular directed consumers to their respective State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) for the relevant stages of the dispute-resolution process.