It has been announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission that Nigerians will now have to pay more for electricity meters, as the Commission has approved deregulation for meters provided to electricity consumers under the Meter Asset Providers scheme.
In an order signed by the Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Commissioner Legal, Licensing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, the Commission made this disclosure on Monday.
This move is aimed at allowing end-use electricity customers to purchase meters from MAPs of their choice at competitive open market prices.
Customers, who previously paid prices of N81,975.16 for single-phase meters and N143,836.16 for three-phase meters under the CAP, will now have to pay an amount determined by the meter providers.
“The prices of meters deployed under the MAP scheme are now deregulated to give customers the opportunity to acquire meters from preferred MAPs at prices determined through transparent bidding frameworks,” as stated by the Commission.
“All MAP permit holders are now authorized to offer services and conduct metering transactions with any Disco within Nigeria, as per their current permits.
“The removal of restrictions on permitting across all Discos is contingent upon MAPs complying with the specific Disco requirements and specifications.
“It is mandatory for all Discos to ensure the smooth integration of smart meters provided by MAPs with the Disco’s head-end systems and meter data management systems,” the statement added.
This decision follows the recent approval by NERC of a tariff increase of over 200% for customers receiving 20 hours of power supply.