Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has stated that electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) reduced the total nationwide metering deficit by 51,631 in November 2023.
A document from the commission detailing the development, stated that with the marginal reduction in unmetered customers, the total number of houses that do not had access to meters is now 7.31 million.
NERC said the total number of registered customers in the country as of November 2023 hit 13.1 million, while the total number of metered customers was 5.79 million, putting the metering rate at 44.23 per cent.
Overall, Ikeja Disco had the highest metering rate of 72.43 per cent, followed by Abuja Disco with 60.43 per cent and Eko Disco with 58.45 per cent.
Benin Disco customers were 49.9 per cent metered, Enugu was 43.79 per cent, Ibadan was 43.30 per cent, while Port Harcourt Disco was 41.51 per cent. Yola was the least metered with 15.42 per cent metering penetration.
Also, according to the NERC report, issues bordering on metering took the cake in terms of customers complaints in November, accounting for 62.23 per cent of the total complaints.
NERC stated that other categories of complaints were billing: 9.33 per cent, interruption: 8.27 per cent, disconnection: 0.97 per cent, voltage: 1.63 per cent, load shedding: 0.28 per cent, delay in connection: 0.17 per cent, and others 17.13 per cent.
In all, the total number of complaints received in November was 108.542, while 103,898 complaints were resolved, with a resolution rate was 95.72 per cent.
In 2023, the Energy Markets and Rates Consultants (EMRC), independent consultants providing energy market, regulatory, techno-economic and financing advice for electricity, renewables and gas sector clients, proffered solutions to closing the metering gap.
According to EMRC, the metering gap can be curbed by investing in infrastructure and strengthening regulatory frameworks with consistent and clear regulatory policies.
It also suggested educating consumers and continuous innovation by launching new metering projects prompted by the successes and learnings of prior initiatives.
