Energy Briefs
THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has ordered electricity distribution companies, Discos, to start disconnecting electricity consumers who reject meters. The directives from the NERC to the 11 Discos were contained in various regulatory orders to the firms, for instance, Order No/NERC/220/2020, with the title, “Amended order on the capping of estimated bills for Yola Electricity Distribution Plc,” was issued to Yola Disco.
The regulator said the new orders were amendments to the previous ones on capping of estimated billing issued by the NERC in February 2020. In the latest regulatory instrument, the NERC declared, “Any customer that rejects the installation of a meter on their premises by (Disco) shall not be entitled to supply and must be disconnected by (the Disco), and shall only be reconnected to the network after the meter has been installed.”
The directives to the Discos, which were jointly signed by James Momoh, chairman, NERC, and Dafe Akpeneye, commissioner, NERC, took effect from November 1, 2020. The order further stipulated other things that must be adhered to by power distributors, particularly as regards the capping of electricity bills for non-metered power users nationwide.
Realnews recalled that the federal government recently commenced the mass deployment of about six million meters across the country in order to halt estimated billing and improve service delivery in the power sector. But operators in the industry observed that some power users were opposed to being metered in order not to pay the exact sum for the electricity that they consume.
– Dec. 4, 2020 @ 14:29 GMT |
Tags: NERC orders Discos to disconnect customers rejecting meters
