The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that between 600,000 and 700,000 prepaid meters are currently available nationwide and urged electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to accelerate deployment and improve public awareness.
NERC Vice-Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, made this known during his opening remarks at the 4th Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) stakeholders meeting held in Abuja.
The statement was shared via the commission’s X account.
Oseni said the federal government had already made significant investments to make the meters available, adding that DisCos must now “improve publicity and rollout speed’’ to ensure wider access and efficiency.
Addressing the ongoing transition to state-level electricity regulatory commissions, Oseni advised DisCos to work cooperatively with state regulators, stressing that “no licensee is bigger than their regulator.”
Also speaking at the event, NERC’s Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, faulted DisCos’ claims that thousands of meters had gone missing because customers moved them without approval.
Akpeneye said DisCos should use their vending platforms to enforce compliance, explaining that, “If you don’t know where the meter is, the customer shouldn’t be able to vend.”
He urged the utilities to block unidentified meters from vending until customers come forward.In addition, Nathan Shatti, NERC Commissioner for Corporate Services, criticized the poor performance of Abuja and Kano DisCos, which have recorded only 2 percent compliance in refunding customers under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme.
Shatti dismissed technical excuses for slow installation of meters and transformers, saying any utility whose network is not ready “should not collect people’s money.”
He disclosed that more than 350,000 meters have yet to be migrated to the new Standard Transfer Specification (STS) and directed DisCos to urgently clean up obsolete data and complete pending migrations.