Energy Briefs
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THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has said it will not allow the importation of electricity meters into the country as long as local manufacturers have the capacity to meet demand. The NERC said it was committed to promoting local content in the nascent private sector-driven power sector, adding that there were huge business opportunities in the sector.
Sam Amadi, chairman, NERC, on Tuesday, September 30, at the 6th Annual Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Lagos Chapter, said the agency would was committed to enhancing local production of meters and would not allow importation unless there is evidence to show that local manufacturers could not meet the demand.
He said the commencement of the transitional electricity market later in the year would force the private investors who acquired the successor power companies last year to live up to the performance agreements they signed with the government, adding that most of the conditions precedents for the commencement of the transitional stage have been met.
Based on the proposals submitted by the core investors in the Discos, 6.52 million new meters will be installed over the course of five years, meaning more than one million will be installed yearly. The metering gap in the market is very huge, with about 50 per cent of consumers being without meters, according to a committee on metering recently set up by NERC. “Consumer metering is a major challenge to the viability of the Discos. Presently, there is still a very high reliance on the notorious practice of estimated billing for revenue collection, which is estimated to be as high as 50 percent in some Discos.”
He noted that customers’ restiveness had been heightened by the very high estimated bills being distributed by the Discos despite the present poor state of supply from the grid. “Discos have equally displayed poor compliance to the estimated methodology developed by the commission to assist in ensuring objectivity in estimation of electricity customers’ consumption,” Amadi said.
Some of the local meter manufacturers are Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited, Mojec International Limited and Electricity Meter Company of Nigeria, which are poised to meet demand in the country, according to the Electricity Meter Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
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Abuja Disco to Install 100,000 Pre-paid Meters
ABUJA Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, has said that it would procure and install 100,000 pre-paid electricity meters yearly. Neil Croucher, managing director, AEDC, said the metering plan which will see it roll out 100,000 pre-paid meters to consumers is expected to close-up extant metering gap in the network’s coverage areas. He explained that the company had inherited challenges in closing up the metering gap in the network.
He, however, noted that the yearly 100,000 pre-paid meters plan will address such challenges, adding that the company would follow-up the plan with a novel electronic billing system. The electronic billing system, he said was aimed at providing electricity consumers within the network, a comfortable vending platform, as well as ensure accountability in revenue collection within the network.
“We inherited a huge metering gap with different billing system that does not communicate with one another. Indeed, there are five different vending platforms, which we’re trying to harmonise them so that they can communicate with each other; meaning that customers can buy their electricity token from any part of the areas covered by AEDC. The operations of five different vending platforms have their challenges, which were not in the interest of our customers and our operation. In order to achieve this, we have an arrangement to install 100,000 meters a year in order to wipe out the backlog in our coverage area as quick as possible. After securing the metering platform, we can then introduce our e-payment solution through which customers can purchase power either through internet, cell phones and e-banking,” he said.
According to Croucher, the company plans to migrate from the manual billing system it inherited to modern system. “In the next few weeks, we should have the single vending platform commissioned and then rolled out to our entire supply area. Also on the billing system, we also have six billing centres that would also communicate with each other and give us a centralised data base.”
— Oct. 13, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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