Even with the widening metering gap in the southeast region, no fewer than 19,500 free prepaid smart meters have reportedly continued to rot away at the premises of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) more than nine months after their delivery.

The Guardian gathered that the smart meters for the southeast region were reportedly received in September last year, as part of the federal government’s Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) funded by the World Bank. All the 11 electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) in Nigeria received various quantities.

It was further learnt that the Ministry of Power had designated the DISREP smart meters as a free national rollout to prevent DISCOS overcharging customers as a way of bridging the metering gaps. This meant that the smart meters were to be distributed and installed freely to customers of electricity companies across the country.

With the deregulated pricing framework by the NERC, currently, a three-phase prepaid meter is sold at about N226, 000, while the single-phase prepaid meter is sold at about N129, 000 depending on the vendor in the southeast.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said in September last year that there are 691,639 unmetered customers under the EEDC network in the southeast. It added that the figure represents approximately 50.5 percent of the utility’s total registered customer base of 1,369,440 within the region, stressing that several customers are still logged on the controversial estimated billings structure.

A further inquiry about the DISREP meters being supplied by a Chinese company showed that they were being procured with the World Bank facility of 500 million USD and targeting about 3.2 million smart meters nationwide. The pool would be divided across the 11 national discos. EEDC is said to account for roughly nine percent of Nigeria’s grid customer base and it is projected that it would be allocated about 290,000 smart meters.

A Policy and Government Relations Professional, Emmanuel Effiong said at the weekend that Nigeria metering deficit could pose a major challenge to the successful implementation of the newly introduced Prosumer Electricity Regulations, despite its potential to transform the power sector.

He noted that while the regulatory framework marks a significant step to expanding renewable energy adoption and encouraging citizen participation in electricity generation, effective implementation would be critical to achieving its intended outcomes.

Meanwhile,  the EEDC’s Group Head, Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, stated that the DISREP program has not been abandoned. He disclosed that the Distribution Company was working towards ensuring that the prepaid meters are deployed and that customers benefit from the project, which aims at closing the metering gap.

“Customers will get these meters free without having to pay for them. Currently, we are working on the integration of the DISREP meters with our own system to achieve compatibility. You will recall that EEDC recently migrated its vending system to SuperEdge – a new prepaid vending system.

“So far, for the record, EEDC took delivery of 19,500 prepaid meters for the DISREP program. It is important to mention that the DISREP project, which is financed by the World Bank, is not a grant but a loan that EEDC will still have to service.

“We are excited about this DISREP initiative because it will go a long way in helping us close the existing metering gap within our network”, Ezeh added.