The metering of electricity customers across Nigeria remains a significant challenge, with the number of unmetered customers rising to 7.3 million.
According to the latest data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), of the over 13.16 million registered electricity customers, the distribution companies (DisCos) have only been able to meter 672,539. This highlights the slow progress in the metering efforts by the DisCos, leaving many customers reliant on the controversial estimated billing system.
NERC’s 2023 Annual Report, released in Abuja on Monday, revealed that as of December 31, 2023, only 5,842,726 customers (44.39%) were metered. In 2023, DisCos installed 672,539 meters, with 25,847 meters installed under the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP), 585,265 under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, 6,912 meters through the Vendor Finance Metering framework, and 53 meters under the DisCo Financed framework.
Experts warn that the slow pace of metering could worsen billing disputes and further erode customer satisfaction.
In other developments, electricity subsidies fell to ₦151.30 billion in 2023, a 17.7 percent drop from 2022. According to the report, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading plc (NBET) and the Market Operator (MO) issued a ₦858.03 billion adjusted invoice to the DisCos for energy costs and administrative services. The DisCos remitted ₦706.73 billion, resulting in a deficit of ₦151.30 billion, equating to a remittance rate of 82.37 percent.
The federal government is expected to pay around ₦180.8 billion in subsidies to power consumers in Bands B to E, whose tariffs have remained frozen since December 2022. In the September subsidy cycle, allocations include ₦26.4 billion for Abuja consumers, ₦23.76 billion for Ikeja Disco, and ₦22.21 billion for Ibadan Disco, among others.
Additionally, NERC imposed fines totalling ₦8.3 billion on the 11 DisCos for overcharging customers, with directives issued for compensation to affected consumers.
These details were provided in the September 2024 Supplementary Order of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), issued by NERC under the leadership of Sanusi Garba.
