Weak Data, Poor Pay Stalling $500m W’Bank-funded Metering Scheme 

Peter Uzoho

Poor remuneration for installers and lack of clean data of unmetered customers of Distribution Companies (Discos) is the main cause of the slow pace of deployment of the World Bank-funded smart electricity meters under the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), THISDAY has learnt.

At the moment, only about 150,000 out of the initial 1 million meters received by the Discos for deployment to their unmetered customers have been successfully installed, leaving 850,000 still dumped at the stores of the 11 Discos. 

Last week, the government received another batch of 500,000 meters from the DISREP implementing partner, Sanxing of China, bringing the total meters now available for deployment to 1.5 million.

DISREP is a federal government initiative funded by the World Bank through a $500 million loan agreement, aimed at boosting the financial health and technical performance of the country’s electricity sector. Metering is part of the programme and aimed at bridging the current 7 million meter deficit, ending estimated billing of consumers, and minimizing commercial losses.

In total, about 3.4 million smart meters are expected to be delivered through the DISREP scheme over a couple of years. The electricity metering challenge in Nigeria has defied all solutions put in place by successive governments, making it impossible for the sector to break even and attract new investors.

However, the DISREP programme is on the verge of collapsing as poor remuneration for installers and lack of clean information of electricity customers are hampering the deployment of meters to the last mile.

It was learnt that installers are reluctant to deliver as many meters as they should in a day because the money being paid them – about N3,000 for one meter – is too little and not encouraging, a situation that is tempting some of the installers to demand installation fees from customers. 

The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, had emphasised that both the meters and their installation are free for customers, warning of severe sanctions against defaulting Discos and installers.

Providing some insights on the cause of the low pace of installation, a meter manufacturer and Chief Executive Officer of New Hampshire Capital, Limited, Mr. Odion Omonfoman, told THISDAY that poor remuneration to installers and lack of clean data of unmetered customers  were the major bottlenecks.

He argued that the N3,000 being paid to installers for one meter – whether single-phase or three-phase meters – was too poor, saying installers have a bad deal as the money would not be able to cover their logistics, accessories, ladder, and other things they need.

To avoid the failure of the metering programme, he advised the federal government to consider improving the remuneration for installers, describing their current fee as abysmal.

He said: “The funding provided by the World Bank covers the cost of the meters, the cost of the meter accessories and materials required for installation, and also the cost of installation. But here’s the problem, people don’t talk about. 

“Meter installers have a bad deal. People take meters and they forget meter installers. Meter installers are poorly paid, very poorly paid, and they are made to go through a lot of things, both safety matters, some of them are not trained. So, it’s hard to say, because you’re paying an installer N3,000 or less than N3,000, that’s very poor remuneration. N3,000 per meter for a single phase. Maybe about the same price for three-phase. So, when you’re paying somebody N3,000, that covers his logistics, covers his ladder, it’s not enough money.”

Apart from the issue of poor remuneration for installers, Omonfoman also blamed the Discos for the delay in massive deployment of the meters to customers.