Estimated Billing: FG Set to Begin Second Phase of Mass Metering Programme

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government yesterday said that it had concluded arrangements to commence the second phase of its National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) which it expects to drastically reduce estimated billing by the Distribution Companies (Discos).

A statement from the office of the Special Adviser on Infrastructure to the President, Mr. Ahmad Zakari, noted that the next phase of the initiative will ensure consumers are billed appropriately for the electricity they consume by installing meters free of charge in households and business premises that are currently unmetered.

The federal government described the programme which is being funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as “unprecedented”, saying that it had led to the supply of meters to many Nigerian homes for free.

The first phase, tagged ‘Phase 0’ was launched later than expected in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a target of 1 million meters across the country and has yielded about 750,000 meters nationwide in about eight month, the statement said.

“This is a marked improvement in terms of the speed of installation of meters compared to its predecessor (the Meter Asset Provider-MAP programme) which recorded 350,000 meter installations in just over 18 months. Essentially the Nigerian meter industry has increased local installation capacity by a multiple of five.

“In preparation for the second phase (known as Phase 1) of the NMMP, the Nigerian electricity sector regulator, NERC, has conducted extensive consultations and stakeholder management, and has revised its metering guidelines. This phase will provide up to 4 million meters and shall also use a similar financing mechanism as phase 0,” Zakari noted.

According to him, one of the key successes of the NMMP initiative is how rapidly it has increased private sector interest in investing in the local meter assembly, manufacturing and installation space.

In addition, he said that there are now new meter factories in Lagos and in Kaduna, while the refurbishment of a number of other defunct metering companies are ongoing.

“This development in the meter assembly space is driven by the Central Bank’s commitment to support local meter assembly/manufacturing as only local companies will be allowed to participate in the bidding process for the upcoming phase of the programme.

“This promises to increase the job creation impact of the programme which has already attained appreciable heights with over 10,000 direct jobs created as a result of the phase 0 of the programme,” Zakari added.

He stated that for Phase 1, a central procurement mechanism to be overseen and supervised by NERC will be deployed in order to ensure that meters are secured at the lowest possible cost.

According to him, this is aimed at reaching the goals and objectives of the national metering programme, noting that the commencement of the procurement process of Phase 1 has been done strategically to ensure that there is no gap in meter supply to customers as the initiative transitions from Phase 0 to Phase 1.

“The Minister of Power has emphasised the administration’s commitment to eliminate the metering gap by 2023. The continuation of the NMMP is in line with the federal government’s agreement with organised labour on electricity sector reform,” he said.

Estimated billing remains one of the challenges of the power sector in the country, with customer complaints over the years that they are given “outrageous” estimates beyond what they are supplied every month by the Discos.