Business
Consumers with prepaid meters rose to 1.59m in Q1 2018 –NBS
The total number of power consumers with prepaid meters by electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in the country rose by 6.23 percent in the first quarter of 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.
The figure rose from 1.50 million consumers in the last quarter of 2017 to about 1.59 million consumers in Q1 2018, indicating a further reduction of over 5 million metering gap in the country.
According to a data released by NBS on Friday, Benin DisCo recorded the highest percentage of the total consumers metered of 17.79 percent in the review period.
The power company was trailed by Abuja DisCo and Ibadan DisCo, which accounted for 16.40 percent and 15.99 percent of the total consumers with the meter respectively.
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However, Yola DisCo recorded the least percentage of the customer metered with 2.35 percent for the quarter under review, it was closely followed by Jos DisCo and Kano DisCo with 3.42 percent and 3.97 percent respectively.
In May, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) introduced the MAP Regulations to eliminate estimated billing practice, attract private investment into the provision of metering services, and bridge the over five million metering gap through accelerated meter rollout.
The MAP regulations mandate electricity DisCos to engage meter assets providers, who will provide funding, procurement, installation, repair and replacement of meters, to meet DisCos’ metering obligations to their consumers.
By the new regulation, the responsibility of issuing meters to power consumers has been shifted from the DisCos to the meter assets providers.
Earlier this week, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, while briefing newsmen assured that the power firms were willing to support the recently introduced Meter Assets Provider (MAP) Regulations to ensure it becomes successful.
By Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan …
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