… as DisCos installed only 12,854 in June alone, despite N21bn meter allocation
… metering performance: Ikeja Electric tops with 76.64%, Abuja DisCo at 70.17%, Eko DisCo at 56.71%
Oredola Adeola
Nigeria’s electricity crisis deepens as only 5.99 million of the 13.19 million registered customers are metered, leaving over 7.19 million—54.58%—still reliant on estimated billing, despite the installation of 12,854 new meters in June 2024.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed these figures in its June 2024 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) Metering and Customer Service Standard factsheet, analyzed by Advisors Reports on Wednesday.
Advisors Reports’ analysis highlighted that, despite a slight increase in metered customers between May 2024 and June 2024, the percentage of unmetered customers only marginally decreased from 54.61% to 54.58%.
This indicates slow progress in metering customers despite the Federal Government’s national mass metering program, with the proportion of unmetered customers remaining significantly high.
Ikeja Electric maintained an outstanding metering performance with 926,270 metered customers out of 1,208,580 registered in June, achieving a 76.64% metering rate.
Despite a drop in registered customers from 1,211,880 in May, the DisCo recorded 282,310 unmetered customers in June 2024.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (Abuja DisCo) closely followed with 1,244,240 registered customers in June, up from 1,242,160 in May.
The DisCo achieved a 70.17% metering rate, with metered customers increasing from 861,780 in May to 873,080 in June 2024.
However, 371,160 customers remained unmetered, and the company managed to install only 22 meters in May.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko DisCo) increased its registered numbers from 770,580 in May 2024 to 773,170 in June 2024, achieving a 56.71% metering rate.
The number of metered customers slightly rose from 437,400 in May to 438,460 in June, leaving 334,710 customers unmetered.
EKEDC installed 1,062 new meters in June alone.
The metering performance of other DisCo based on the month in view are as follows:
Benin Electric, with 675,498 metered customers, showed a metering rate of 49.28%, leaving 693,946 customers without meters. Benin installed a total of 2,676 meters alone in June
Enugu Electric’s metering rate stands at 45.70%, with 638,094 metered and 758,326 unmetered customers. It installed 1,062 meters only in June.
Ibadan Electric has metered 40.68% of its customers, leaving 835,866 without meters, while 573,063 are metered. In June alone Ibadan installed only 728 meters.
Kaduna Electric, with 203,013 metered customers, has a metering rate of 22.91%, leaving 683,149 customers unmetered. Kaduna installed 308 meters only in the month under review.
Kano Electric’s metering rate is 24.14%, resulting in 669,272 unmetered customers after metering 212,720. while the DisCo installed 61 meters in June alone.
Port Harcourt Electric has a metering rate of 24.27%, with 813,710 customers unmetered and 260,891 metered.
The DisCo installed 640 meters alone in the month under review.
Jos Electric, with 215,689 metered customers, has a metering rate of 24.58%, leaving 661,861 unmetered customers.It also installed 1,791 meters alone in June
Yola Electric has the lowest metering rate at 15.27%, leaving 692,900 customers without meters while only 124,835 are metered, and also installed only 802 meters in the period under review.
The high number of unmetered customers contributes to issues such as inaccurate billing and electricity theft, affecting the overall efficiency and sustainability of the power sector.
Advisors Reports emphasized that despite the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) deregulating the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme effective May 1, 2024, which allows customers to choose their preferred MAPs and meter types, the DisCos have made little progress in improving metering rates.
The recent release of N21 billion by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in June 2024 to enable DisCos to procure and install meters for customers at no cost has also failed to significantly improve the metering performance of the DisCos.
