As at the end of August, last year, the number of registered electricity consumers stood at 8,292,840, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The Commission, which is the industry regulator, said out of this figure, only 3,592,168 consumers were metered, leaving a gap of 4,700,672, representing about 43 per cent, which needed to be closed.
However, partly because of the huge capital investment of about N292 billion said to be required to close the metering gap, the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have failed to meet the five-year deadline contained in the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) handed over to them by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) in November 2013 when the power sector was privatised.
However, some electricity consumers argued that DisCos’ failure to provide meters, especially pre-paid, was deliberate and that the obnoxious, exploitative regime of estimated and arbitrary billing was DisCos’ ingenious way of recouping their investments in the acquisition of the assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) under the privatisation.
For instance, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria President/ Founder, Sola Salako, refused to be swayed by arguments that lack of fund was responsible for DisCos’ inability to meter their customers. As far as she is concerned, estimated billing was DisCos’ major revenue generating source, which was why they were unwilling to meter their customers. Read more