The Federal Government has commenced the next phase of the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP) under which about four million (4m) units of meters would be procured from local meter manufacturers and distributed.
Nigeria’s electricity regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said a total of over 900,000 units of meters have so far been installed under the take-off phase of the scheme without any payment by benefiting consumers.
“We once again state that, under this National Mass Metering Program, consumers would NOT be required to pay directly for the meters,” NERC said in response to what they called misunderstanding by Nigerians on social media and publication in the press.
The regulator said the NNMP was designed to provide all consumers of electricity with meters as pat of a policy intervention of the Federal Government supported by CBN concessionary loans to DisCos.
NERC said that pending the conclusion of the NMMP procurement processes and the commencement of manufacturing/installation, consumers may elect to acquire a meter immediately from Meter Asset Providers (MAPs).
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The regulatory framework approved by the Commission under the MAP/NMMP Regulations provide for the refund of the cost of the meter through energy credits to the customer at the time of vending. T
NERC said that the recently issued notice by the Commission on the adjusted cost of meters is designed to protect consumers from arbitrary pricing by any MAP in the context of recent changes in macroeconomic parameters affecting the cost of production.
Then the release said that the press and social commentators are advised to always contact our Public Affairs Department for clarification on any regulatory matter so as to avoid misinforming innocent consumers. However, many journalists found the commission’s public affairs department unresponsive.
Confusion over the country’s metering policy has emanated from NERC itself with many of its policies inconsistent and poorly conceived. This is worsened by interference from the Federal Government.
In the middle of implementing the MAP which contracted third party investors to distribute meters to customers for a fee, the government announced a free meter policy and it took the commission months to articulate a response in the form of a policy which only added more confusion to the situation.
