Give Us N400bn For Metering, DisCos Tells Federal Government

The power distribution companies in the country (DISCOS) have placed a fresh request before the federal government of Nigeria.

The Discos while lamenting on the meter gap provision in Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to provide N400bn through commercial banks towards bridging the huge metering gap in the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

The Discos said the implementation of the Meter Asset Provider scheme had met significant challenges including lack of financing and increased import duty on meters. They said to facilitate mass metering, the Federal Government, through its various development partners, should provide funds that customers could access for metering under the MAP scheme.

On March 8, 2018, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission approved the MAP Regulation, aimed at fast-tracking the closure of the metering gap in the sector through the engagement of third-party investors for the financing, procurement, supply, installation and maintenance of electricity meters.

The commission, which set a target of three years for the provision of meters to all customers, directed the Discos and the meter asset providers to commence the rollout of meters not later than May 1, 2019.

But in February this year, NERC itself noted that several constraints, including changes in fiscal policy and the limited availability of long-term funding, had led to limited success in the meter rollout.The Discos also revealed that the plugging metering gap of over 6.5 million meters had been slow because NERC designed the MAP regulations with inappropriate meter pricing.