70,456 Customers Receive Meters in July, Says NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced that 70,456 electricity customers received meters in July 2024, taking the number of metered consumers in the country to 6,053,479.

NERC, in a fact sheet published on X-Handle, said the country currently has 13,293,739 registered customers, with the percentage of metered electricity consumers being 45.54%.

According to the fact sheet, Jos DisCo did not deliver meters to its customers in July, even though only 33.62% of its customers had meters.

Meanwhile, Ibadan DisCo had the highest number of new metered customers in July with 29,277. This was followed by Benin Disco with 10,549m, Abuja Disco with 7,332m, Ikeja Disco with 6,657m, Enugu Disco with 6,008m and Eko Disco with 4,257m. Others include Aba Power 2,307; Kaduna DisCo 1,945; Port Harcourt DisCo 1,907; Kano DisCo 139 and Yola DisCo 78.

The report also stated that the highest number of complaints received during the month were related to meters, accounting for 40.42% of the 114,562 complaints received.

The report also stated that Eko DisCo had the highest number of customer complaints with 11,030 while Benin DisCo had the lowest with 102.

Recall that in May, the Federal Government deregulated electricity prices, allowing meter providers to sell to consumers at mutually favourable prices.

The liberalisation of meter prices has seen single-phase meter prices rise from as low as 88,000 naira to an average of 147,000 naira, depending on the provider. This represents an increase of about 67% for single-phase meters.

NERC, which approved the price increase, had said that meter prices were deregulated following requests from meter asset providers and other operators for a further review of meter prices to take into account significant changes in exchange rates and inflation rates since NERC’s last price review of meter prices in September 2023.

The report said significant changes in macroeconomic variables have limited the ability of meter suppliers to offer meters at the approved regulated prices.

The Commission said, “The commission has noted the need for the efficient pricing of meters to respond more quickly to changes in macroeconomic parameters, particularly exchange rates.”