MOJEC Meter Asset Management Company (M3AC) has continued its meter penetration push to reduce Nigeria’s metering gap by partnering with the Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC) to get more Nigerians covered under its mobile MAP initiative.
This is as the company also cautioned customers against meter tampering and energy theft which would negatively affect the energy sector value chain.
Mojisola Abdul, MOJEC International chairman, said for there to be an efficient energy sector value chain that would ultimately lead to more power supply, the right energy usage had to be captured and paid for by customers. She went on to say that customers too had a responsibility to ensure that they do not bypass their meters nor induce the meter installers to do it for them.
Abdul said the core advantage of prepaid meters is that customers can manage their energy usage and be economical with it. This, she asserted, will lead to the end of estimated billings if more customers are metered, in alignment with the metering drive of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) that approved the Mobile Meter Access Provider (MAP) scheme.
The launch of the Mobile MAP scheme with EKEDC is a continuation of the activations that started in Abuja, with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC); which then moved to Shomolu, Lagos under Ikeja Electric; and Sango, under the Ibadan Electric Distribution Company (IBEDC).
Tinuade Sanda, managing director and chief executive officer, EKEDC, at the flag-off, said the activation is to reiterate to their customers that they hear them and understand that they want to measure the energy they consume.
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She said that as a DisCo, EKEDC also wants to be able to measure the energy they sell to the customers which was why it became imperative for them to activate the Mobile MAP in their various business units.
Sanda encouraged the customers to use the opportunity to get metered under the Mobile MAP so that they can control their energy usage, similar to the way they control their mobile communication data usage. “Map is an advance payment for customers to get metered. We are here to flag off Mobile MAP in our DisCo and want customers to use this opportunity to be metered”.
Similarly, Micheal Onuoha, head, Mobile MAP, MOJEC, said under the partnership, 10,000 meters will be given monthly to the various customers under the scheme till the end of the Mobile MAP to dispel the rumour that meters are hard to get. He said this would make more Nigerians able to control their energy usage.
Customers asked various questions bothering them, especially on the issue of engineers asking to be paid before installing the meters; customers told to pay for equipment before the meter installation, and the absence of the right information provided to customers on how to go about the metering process.
Abdul, in response, told the customers that they do not have to pay the meter installers, with Sanda providing a whistle-blower customer complaint number for the customers to call if they are accosted to pay any charge outside of the meter fee which will be given back to them as a form of energy credit.
