Nigerian Government to begin second phase of electricity mass metering scheme: Official

*The Nigerian Government announces the National Mass Metering Programme will ensure that consumers are billed ‘appropriately’ for the electricity they consume

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In order to get more Nigerian electricity consumers connected to the national grid and make power distribution more efficient, the Federal Government has said that it will commence the second phase of its National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) soon.

Mr. Ahmad Zakari, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Infrastructure, said this in a statement issued Friday, August 20, 2021, in Abuja, FCT.

According to him, the Presidency revealed that NMMP would ensure that consumers are billed appropriately for the electricity they consume by installing prepayment or smart meters free of charge in household and business premises.

The statement also said that “the Federal Government provided funding for the programme through loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

“Meters are provided to customers free of charge. This is indeed unprecedented and has so far led to the tremendous success recorded so far.”

The presidential aide noted: “It will be recalled that the first phase was launched later than expected in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a target of one million meters across the country.

“Till date, 750,000 meters have been delivered to DisCos in just under eight months.”

The NMMP thus far has improved speed of installation of meters compared to its predecessor (Meter Asset Provider – (MAP), which recorded 350,000 meter installations in over 18 months, said the Special Adviser to the President.

Zakari also explained that in preparation for the Second Phase (known as Phase 1) of the NMMP, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has conducted extensive consultations and stakeholder management, and has revised its metering guidelines.

The statement also said: “One of the key successes of the NMMP initiative is how rapidly it has increased private sector interest in investing in local meter assembly, manufacturing and installation.

“This is in addition to the springing up of new factories such as the Quantum meter assembly plant in Lagos and the Smart Meter assembly plant in Kaduna.”

It stated: “We are also seeing the refurbishment and upgrade of some metering plants that have also fallen into disrepair such as EMCON in Kaduna.”

Meanwhile, for the second phase, the Federal Government has disclosed a central procurement mechanism to be managed and supervised by the NERC will be employed.

The government stated the essence of this is to ensure that meters are secured at the lowest possible cost, thereby reaching the goals and objectives of the NMMP.

“The commencement of the procurement process of the second Phase has been done strategically to ensure that there is no gap in meter supply to customers as the NMMP transits from the first phase to the second phase.

“The Minister of Power, Mr. Mamman Sale, has emphasised the administration’s commitment to eliminate the metering gap by 2023,” said Zakari.

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