The Federal Government has targeted full-scale metering of unmetered Band A electricity customers before the end of September.
Adebayo Adelabu, the minister of power, made this known Friday at the BusinessDay “Powering Nigeria’s Energy Future: Addressing Infrastructural Challenges for Sustainable Energy Development” Conference in Lagos.
He said there was an accrued N20 billion for metering and a plan is in the works with stakeholders to procure meters for these customers. “We are releasing N20 billion for the electricity distribution companies to procure meters for the unmetered Band A customers before the end of September.”
Band A customers are those who receive 20–24 hours of electricity supply daily.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced the new rates see a jump from N66/N77 per kilowatt-hour to a significant N225 kWh in April, citing that the newly approved tariffs will reduce subsidies for 2024 by about N1.14 trillion.
The Commission estimated in January 2024 that the federal government would pay N1.6 trillion on electricity subsidy in 2024 fiscal year.
Also, more than seven million electricity customers in Nigeria are unmetered, according to data by the Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.
“The government has put in place the required framework to enable an injection of 1.5 million meters into the power sector through the World Bank Distribution Support Recovery Program.
“The Presidential Metering Initiative will ensure an additional 2 million meters will be procured annually for 5 years. This will ensure accurate billing, reducing revenue loss and improving cash flow for a more liquid power sector,” Adelabu added.
