Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCOs) in Nigeria have experienced a significant decline in the installation of meters, reporting a 60.86 percent decrease in the second quarter of 2024.
According to the latest quarterly report from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), only 49,188 meters were installed during this period, a stark contrast to the 125,664 meters installed in the first quarter of the year.
Despite this drop, NERC noted that the new installations contributed to a slight increase in the net end-user metering rate within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), rising from 44.79 percent in Q1 to 45.43 percent in Q2.
The report indicated that a substantial portion of the meters—73.16 percent—were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, while smaller numbers were attributed to other programs such as the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) and Vendor Financed frameworks.
NERC has emphasized the need for DisCOs to adopt a combination of available meter financing frameworks established in the 2021 MAP and NMMP regulations to address ongoing metering gaps.
To protect consumers from potential exploitation due to unmetered billing practices, NERC continues to implement monthly energy caps for all feeders managed by DisCOs. These caps set a maximum billing amount for unmetered customers based on overall energy received and consumption by metered users.
Additionally, NERC reported that DisCOs received a staggering 287,441 consumer complaints during the second quarter, primarily concerning metering issues, billing disputes, service interruptions, and tariff band grievances.