NERC Urges Electricity Customers to Update Meters or Face Recharge Issues

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

 The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has called on electricity customers across the country to update their metering devices or face challenges with recharging by next year.

In a message on its Twitter/X handle yesterday, the regulatory agency noted that the process of updating would be free of charge with customers expected to approach the power Distribution Companies (Discos) on how to go about it.

“ If you have a prepaid meter, it may be time for an update. From November, 2024, you may not be able to recharge your meter. However, updating is easy and free.

“Discos shall commence issuance of two free Key Change Tokens (KCTs) which will update your meter,” NERC stated in the message.

In addition, it stated that the process will not in any way impact the units in the meters , urging consumers not to be apprehensive.

“The update will not affect the units in your meter nor will it make your meter run faster than usual. Contact your Disco for more information,” it said.

Meanwhile, NERC in collaboration with the Nigeria National Accreditation System (NiNAS), has held a training on competence requirements testing and calibration laboratories – ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the power industry.

The three-day meeting held at the NERC headquarters had the theme: “Understanding the application of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in testing laboratories in electricity generation and distribution value chain,” a statement from NERC said.

In his welcome remarks at the opening ceremony, the Commissioner, Engineering, Performance and Monitoring at NERC,  Chidi Ike, stated that the commission was raising the bar on the standards of meter testing laboratories.

 “We have all the instruments that have empowered us to do what we should do in terms of making sure that the laboratories that are used in testing meters are of the right standards and specifications. But we haven’t been doing it, we want to start doing it.

“So, we’ve have gathered here people that are more concerned about this activity; people that will gain more from this interaction with NiNAS for these three days,” the commissioner noted.

Also speaking, the Director General, NiNAS, Mr Celestine Okanya, said he believed that the collaboration would further improve the practice of accreditation and laboratory standards monitoring for the commission.

“The workshop we are doing today for me, apart from just discussing ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in testing laboratories in electricity generation and distribution value chain, is also an opportunity to look at the core perspectives which NERC can benefit from.  Our accreditation services will help you to work better,” he added.

The statement added that the training availed the participants from NERC the opportunity to share knowledge with the team from NiNAS about laboratory testing and other engineering standards in the power sector value chain.