The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has advised electricity consumers to report any power Distribution Company (DisCo) forcing them to either invest or pay for provision of distribution infrastructure as precondition for restoration of electricity supply.
The regulation provides that such an arrangement must always be on the basis of an executed “Project Agreement” between the customers and distribution company in which the costs and the mechanism for recovery of the investment are mutually agreed between the parties.
It also warned that no metered customer should be transferred to “estimated billing” on the premise that meters in use for more than 10 years are dysfunctional.
NERC in a statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Dr. Usman Abba-Arabi, cited that all licensees must henceforth adhere to the Part iii, Section 3.5.2 of the Metering Code which states that “if a metering system fault occurs, the Distributor shall provide urgent metering services to repair or replace the metering system as soon as it is practicable and in any event within two working days of the Distributor discovering that the fault exists”.
“In this regard, customers are hereby requested to report any electricity distribution company that has continued with the decommissioning of meters without immediate replacement”, he said.
The Commission further warned DisCos against the practice of insisting on the payment of all outstanding electricity debts as precondition for the acquisition of electricity meters under the Meter Asset Provider Regulation.
The Commission explained that it is committed to expediting a closure of the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry thus eliminating the current unwarranted practice of “estimated billing”.
It indicated that in response to customer complaints about the issuance of estimated electricity bills and pending the installation of the estimated over 5m units of meters, the Commission shall soon prescribe a cap representing the maximum amount that a DisCo may charge an unmetered customer.
It said in pursuit of realising the main objective of the Meter Asset Provider Regulations, customers denied the opportunity of acquiring meters under the new regulatory framework on account of outstanding estimated bills should contact the Commission by sending an email with full details of the circumstances.
