A top official of Abuja electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) has disclosed that despite the recession, the firm rolled out 116,000 meters in 2016 and sustained 45 per cent payment for its monthly energy bill.

Engr. Emmanuel Katepa who is Managing Director/CEO of Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), a core investor in the DisCo, said this in an interview at the weekend.

Engr. Katepa said Abuja DisCo installed 86,000 meters for customers under the Credited Advanced Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI) and then rolled out 30,000 free meters last year.

“We had some decent progress in the year. We have so far secured 30,000 meters. This is separate from the 86,000 we did on CAPMI in 2016,” Katepa noted.

He also disclosed that from June 2016, the energy bill presented by Generation Companies (GenCos) to the DisCos increased significantly thereby dropping the value paid for energy to 45 per cent.

He said: “In terms of payment for energy consumption, it was a relative performance because we are only managing to meet 45 per cent of our bill. One of the things left out in the statistics, is that the monthly generation bill to DisCos has been going up. We actually recorded a performance growth without tariff adjustment and that is tough,” Katepa explained.

He said the drop in revenue affected its investment pace as some of the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) had to be severely cut off.

“As an investor, I am not pushing any hope for getting dividend out of my investment now maybe till the sector matures and the macro economy improves say by 2021 or 2022,” he said.


http://www.energywatchng.com/abuja-disco-installed-116000-meters-2016/