The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed in its quarterly report that only 49,188 meters were installed across the country in the second quarter of 2024, a significant drop compared to the 125,664 meters installed in the first quarter of the year. Despite this decrease, the new installations increased the net end-user metering rate in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by 0.64%, moving from 44.79% in Q1 to 45.43% in Q2.
According to the report, the majority of the meters, 35,985 (73.16%), were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, while only 264 meters were installed under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP). Other installation methods included the Vendor Financed framework, accounting for 12,843 meters, and the DISCO Financed framework, with 96 meters.
NERC emphasized that distribution companies (DISCOs) are expected to use a combination of the five meter financing frameworks outlined in the 2021 MAP and National Mass Metering Regulations to close the metering gaps.
As part of efforts to protect unmetered customers from being overbilled, NERC continues to issue monthly energy caps for all feeders in each DISCO, limiting the amount of energy that can be billed to customers without meters based on the energy consumption of metered customers.
Additionally, the report disclosed that DISCOs across Nigeria received a total of 287,441 consumer complaints during the second quarter of 2024, reflecting ongoing concerns and dissatisfaction with service delivery in the power sector.