News

Customers tired of estimated billing, FG warns Discos

February 14, 2024

By Okechukwu Nnodim

Electricity consumers do not want to pay on the basis of estimated bills, rather they want to pay for what they consume and should be provided meters in order to achieve this, the Federal Government told power distribution companies on Tuesday.

It disclosed this through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission during a meeting with investors/owners of Discos in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry in Lagos State.

The lack of adequate meters has remained an issue in the power sector, as power distributors are still finding it tough to meter consumers in their various franchise areas, hence, have resorted to over-billing end users by issuing estimated bills.

On Monday, for instance, The PUNCH exclusively reported that power distribution companies overbilled about 7.1 million unmetered electricity consumers between January and September 2023.

The report stated that in the various Regulatory Interventions for Non-Compliance with the Order on Capping of Estimated Billing to Unmetered Customers, issued to the 11 Discos by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, an agency of the Federal Government, it was established that the power distributors raked over N105bn as a result of over-billing.

But in a series of posts on its official X handle on Tuesday, NERC stated that it told the owners of Discos during the meeting in Lagos that the distribution firms were bound to provide meters, adding that this would also ameliorate the financial crisis in the sector.

The NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, while explaining the key role of metering in addressing some of the challenges in the NESI, was quoted as saying, “Metering is an issue. Without metering, the issue of liquidity will not be resolved.

“Customers want to pay for what they consume. It is the single most prevalent complaint of consumers. We cannot overlook the value of metering in the value chain, and we will continue to focus on how to close the gap because customers do not want to pay on the basis of estimated bills.”

Also speaking at the meeting, the Team Lead (Power), Office of the Special Adviser on Energy to the President,  Eriye Onagoruwa, decried the huge metering gap in the power sector.

“There is a huge metering gap that needs to be bridged. The Presidential Metering Initiative is looking at bulk procurement of smart meters, developing homegrown systems of MDMS, reduction of ATC&C losses to globally accepted standards, and stakeholder engagement to identify challenges facing the sector, while carrying metering manufacturers along without compromising on cost, quality and delivery,” she stated.

Over seven million registered power users in the NESI are unmetered and are being charged estimated bills by the power 11 distribution companies.

On his part, the Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, NERC,  Nathan Rogers, explained what customers should know with respect to the payment for meters.

He said, “Customers should not pay for meters when you (Discos) don’t have meters in stock. If you collect customers’ money, then you have to install meters for them at no additional cost regardless of when you install it,” he stated.

Rogers reminded the Discos that they cannot increase the meter price for customers that have already paid.

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