ELECTRICITY METER LIBERALIZATION IN NIGERIA; the time is now…..
In November 2013, the federal government gave vent to the provisions of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005 by privatizing and handing over the unbundled PHCN successor units to private companies whose bids were seen and adjudged at that time to be competitive.

In doing this, there were conditions precedent to the said handing over of these hitherto government owned establishments which the new investors accepted and agreed to satisfy. One of such conditions was that the identified metering gap has to be bridged within the next 5 years effective from the handover date.

The metering condition became imperative given that it will guarantee a win-win situation for consumers and the private investors as it will ensure that investors’ gets value for services rendered while customers will pay for services enjoyed. It was a situation that was envisaged to revolutionize the emerging private-sector led industry and make it a model for other African country that may want to privatize their power utility companies.

But surprisingly, over 2 years since this landmark exercise was consummated, the expected mileage in metering is yet to crystalize as customers have remained largely unmetered while the various Discos (Distribution companies) have resorted to an incoherent and unsystematic estimated billing practice. The reasons often cited for this misnomer ranged from lack of funds to provide meters, lack of cost-reflective tariffs to refusal of customers to pay their bills.

Discerning minds who have taken time to study the reasons as adduced will discover a rather deliberate plan to continue with the illogical system of estimated billings which from all indications pays the Discos more; at least they are guaranteed of getting money even when situations on ground should have been to the contrary given the near total black-outs that consumers have been subjected to in the past few months. If there were meters, customers will only get bills for the energy consumed and not getting billed using weird bill estimation techniques and methodologies which lacked thoroughness and transparency?

Given the plethora of consumer complaints emanating from these estimated billings amidst worsening power supply situations, NERC (Nigerian electricity regulatory commission) came up with an alternative metering plan in 2014 called CAPMI (Credited advance payment for metering initiative) to enable customers who are willing to make payments to have prepaid meters installed in their premises to do so. So far this initiative have failed woefully owing to the observed unwillingness of the Discos for reasons already stated above, to embrace it wholeheartedly. It appears that deliberate measures were put in place to frustrate the program and make it unattractive as instances abound where customers who have fully complied with set prerequisites to have the much sought after PPM (prepaid meter) installed for them have been kept waiting beyond the statutory 45-day maximum installation period without any credible explanation. Meanwhile, the outrageous estimated bills kept piling up.

Several audits conducted by the regulatory bodies have been able to establish the abuse of this initiative by the Discos and had informed the statement credited to the Minister of Power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola while expressing his frustration with the apparent bungling of this good plan by the Discos. He said “You cannot take peoples’ money without providing the service for which they have paid. I was uncomfortable with that.” It is also curious that all the comprehensive meter roll out plans as compiled and circulated by the Discos have largely been observed in breach.

At this juncture, there is need for the government and the regulatory authority to go beyond mere rhetoric and wield the big stick given the service level agreements (SLAs) signed up by the new players in the industry. Indeed, given the inadequacies we have seen especially with the operations of these Discos, there is a further need to liberalize the metering aspect of the power market. This argument is hinged on the fact that the Discos have sabotaged and are still frustrating reasonable efforts and interventions made to get them to meter their customers owing to the derivable benefits from such abuse.

Again, it has been established that the local manufacturers of these power assets have the capacity to substantially assist in bridging the yawning metering gap but the Discos have inexplicably refused to patronize them. As I write this article, the multi-million naira investments by these local producers who have been attracted with the privatization of the sector and the revelations of huge metering gaps, are tethering on the brinks of collapse due to lack of patronage.

Therefore, the suggested liberalization will among other things enable individuals and corporate customers in need of meters to pay local manufacturers and get them installed in their premises while the discos only takes records and carry out quality assurance procedures as may be needed to vouch for the integrity of the equipment. I understand the fact that the responsibility by Law, to have meters provided and installed lies with the Discos but in the face of established inability and/or unwillingness to do this, interested customers who have been made to bear the brunt of this obvious infractions and who are willing to liaise with these local producers should be allowed to do so and get these meters installed.

This scenario will also serve as catalyst for the local meter industry currently forced into redundancy due to lack of patronage as well as serve as added zest to the government’s current drive to get Nigerians to patronize our indigenous manufacturers and boost employment opportunities in the country.

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