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| Image source: New Telegraph |
•Commission urges
patronage of locally made meters
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)
yesterday said it intends to give the Electricity Distribution Companies
(DISCOs) a 16-month ultimatum to meter all customers. Its Chairman, Dr. Sam
Amadi, who spoke to reporters in Abuja, said at the expiration of the period,
the unmetered customers would not be charged any bills. He also insisted that DISCOs must install meters for customers that have paid their money in the
Credit Advance Programme for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) within four
months. Should they fail to
install the meters within four months, the affected customers will be exempted
from paying bills until the Discos install their meters.
The proposal, said Amadi,
is to aggressively drive the DISCOs to address the metering gap in the
electricity market.
The Nation report continues:
He said the commission
has chosen to issue an order setting up the cap with an effective
implementation date after a moratorium of four months to allow the DISCOs to
appropriately adjust their metering program.
The chairman added that
all estimates being imposed by DISCOs within the moratorium period shall be
strictly based on the Commission Billing Estimation Methodology.
As soon as the capping
regulation commences, he said the extant regulation on estimation methodology
will be vacated.
He said: “The DISCOs
have, we are proposing, up till the next four months before this cap starts.
And when the cap starts, the DISCOs have additional 12 months, making it a
total of 16months within which to meter every customer.
“If after that 12 months,
the customer is not metered, that customers will be excluded from paying bills
at all.
“And customers who have
paid their money on CAPMI 45 days delivery of meters that have not delivered,
within these four months, the Discos should make sure they completely install
meters to all those customers that have paid money for meters.
“Within that four months,
if any CAPMI customer has not been metered, such CAPMI customer after the four
months will not be charged any bill until they are metered. “
He said the commission
received petition from some local meter manufacturers alleging that some Discos
have violated local content obligation by installing imported meters when there
are locally manufactured meters.
NERC, according to him,
has started investigation of the allegation. He urged the DISCOs to note that
the commission will mete out severe sanctions to any operator who violates the
regulations on metering and local content.
Amadi said in the last
two weeks, there has been agitation by local manufacturers of meter on low
patronage by the DISCOs.
The manufacturers, said
Amadi, have claimed that foreign meter manufacturers are being patronised at
their detriment. He however called on NERC to protect local industry.
Amadi said: “It is
important to make it clear that the Nigerian electricity industry is designed
to be efficient and competitive so that customers have access to adequate and
reliable electricity at affordable prices. It is not designed to restrain free
trade. Rather, it is designed to contribute maximally to the growth of the
Nigerian economy.”
He said the leadership of
the commission is strongly committed to promoting local content because it
wants the growth in the electricity sector to contribute to improvement in job
creation and household income.
The chairman explained
that it was for this reason that the NERC in 2012 made the regulation on local
content obligating every operator in the electricity market to continuously
localize employment, services and technology.
Amadi said in order to
overcome meter cloning and other forms of frauds against electricity market,
many DISCOs are resorting to smart meters.
He promised that NERC’s
regulation will provide a supporting framework for smart metering in the
Nigerian electricity market.
The chairman however
warned “customers to stop engaging in criminal acts of stealing power. It is
this sort of sabotage at the retail level that increases the commercial losses
that increase the tariff that consumers pay.
“So, it is in the
interest of consumers to report their neighbours who engage in such criminal
activities to the DISCOs and the security forces. By protecting electrical
installations, we reduce the cost of electricity generation, transmission and
distribution. We benefit in terms of improved power supply and low tariff.”
The chairman NERC has
authorized the DISCOs to take severest actions possible to prevent, detect and
prosecute customers who by-pass or clone meters, tamper with electrical
installation, or in any way defraud them of approved revenue.
“We call on the police
authorities to step up prevention and prosecution of criminal activities in the
electricity market,”he said.
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