The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to deploy seven million smart electricity meters across the country through the Presidential Metering Initiative as part of efforts to eliminate estimated billing and revenue leakages in the power sector.
This was disclosed by Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, in commemoration of the second year of President Tinubu’s administration.
Verheijen said the rollout of smart meters is a key component of the Tinubu administration’s strategy to improve the commercial viability of the electricity value chain, particularly the gas-to-power segment.
“There are a number of actions or interventions that we are taking to ensure that we improve the commercial viability of the gas-to-power value chain.”
“We are developing the policy and the frameworks that enable us to transition to a system that allows us to charge the cost of delivering electricity, and more importantly, to drive efficiencies in arriving at that cost,” she said.
Clearing legacy debts
According to Verheijen, part of the government’s broader power sector reform includes the resolution of legacy debts owed to generation companies and gas suppliers.
“We plan to clear the legacy debt with a mix of cash and promissory notes to ensure that the generation companies and the gas suppliers are also paid.”
She attributed the accumulated debt to the government’s previous inability to fund electricity subsidies and the poor revenue performance of electricity distribution companies (Discos).
“In addition to this, we are making sure that we improve revenue assurance by ensuring that most customers on the grid are metered.”
“With this, we can end estimated billing and ensure that we reduce collection losses so that customers who get electricity are paying customers,” she added.
More insights
In return for resolving outstanding debts, the government will require performance commitments from all players across the power value chain.
The Special Adviser also emphasized the need for stronger governance within the Discos, noting their central role in revenue collection and service delivery in the electricity supply chain.
She explained that regulatory frameworks would be used to ensure that the distribution companies have both the technical and financial capacity to deliver more reliable electricity to Nigerian homes and businesses.
What you should know
Early this year, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) imposed fines totaling N628 million on eight electricity distribution companies, including Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ikeja Electric (IKEDC), for violating the capping regulations on estimated billing.
These penalties were calculated based on the volume of excessive billing and the duration of the infractions.
NERC emphasized that this enforcement action is part of its broader regulatory efforts to curb estimated billing abuse and accelerate the deployment of prepaid meters under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) and other initiatives.
