Electricity consumers not required to pay for meters under NMMP —NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reiterated that electricity consumers are not required to pay directly for the meters issued to them under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).

The commission disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

According to NERC, the NMMP is a policy intervention, designed to provide all consumers with electricity with meters.

The commission noted that the policy intervention of the Federal Government was supported by the Central Bank through concessionary loans to Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCoS).

NERC said so far, over 900,000 units of meters have been installed under the kickoff scheme without any payment by benefiting consumers.

Read also: NERC approves N215.68bn for upgrades of Ikeja, Eko DisCos

The statement noted that while the first phase didn’t cover many of the unmetered customers, the next phase which has commenced would provide about four million units of meters to consumers, procured from local meter manufacturers.

Meanwhile, NERC stated that pending the conclusion of the NMMP procurement processes and the commencement of manufacturing and installation, consumers may decide to acquire a meter from the Meter Asset Programme.

Furthermore, the commission added that the regulatory framework approved by the commission under MAP/NMMP Regulation provides for refund of the cost of meter through energy credits to the customer at the time of vending.

The commission said that the recently issued notice by the commission on the adjusted cost of the meter was designed to protect consumers from arbitrary pricing by MAP.

Also, NERC urged that clarification be made from its Public Affairs Department on any regulatory matter to avoid consumers’ misinformation.

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