The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given a directive that no electricity distribution company Discos should disconnect any of their maximum demand customers that have not been metered since March 1, 2017.
In a statement on its twitter account, the commission said: “Maximum Demand customers not provided with meter by 1/3/2017 shall not pay on bill prepared on estimation”.
While stating that the directive does not affect bills incurred before the said date, it called on unmetered customers to report the Commission.
Maximum demand electricity customers are categorised as those connected on the 11Kv (high tension wire) electricity lines, mostly with their dedicated transformers. They include heavy users of electricity like commercial business plazas; small scale industries and others.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in line with its mandate to ensure that the rights of electricity customers are protected and guarantee investors fair returns on their investments had in June 2016, after consultation with operators, directed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to conclude metering of all maximum demand (MD) electricity customers in their networks not later than November 30, 2016.
The Commission at the expiration of that Notice granted three months moratorium to enable the Discos effectively execute the metering deployment plan for MD customers, which expired on February 28, 2017.
It had also sent out a notice prior to the expiration of the moratorium period that the Commission shall commence regulatory action against any defaulting DisCo(s), beginning March 1, 2017.
The commission said its decision to sanction Discos that may default on its directive was sequel to the rising complaints from all categories of electricity customers over estimated bills they considered irreconcilable with the available power supply in the networks operated by the Discos.
It noted that while some of the maximum demand customers had indicated their willingness to key into its makeshift metering plan, the Credit Advance Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI), which permits willing electricity customer to pay for meter by advancing money to Discos who then install meters to them within 45 days, the Discos have reportedly remained reluctant to accept their requests.
“The Commission frowned at Discos refusal to meter their maximum demand customers under the CAPMI. Customer who subscribes to CAPMI is refunded his money with interest through discounted electricity bills over a period of time.
“The Commission in its directives observed that most of the Discos have refused to accept maximum demand customers under CAPMI scheme. Meanwhile, maximum demand customers are fewer in number than the other categories of customers and should have been easily dispense with by the Discos,” the statement added.
