New Electricity Meter Prices Take Effect, Today

Effective today, Nigerians would have to pay more to have both single-phase and three-phase meters in their houses.
At present, there are about six million un-metred individual and business electricity consumers in the country.
A circular dated November 11, 2021, by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) showed that the hike in prices takes effect on Monday, November 15, 2021.
The circular, with reference number NERC/REG/MAP/GEN/751/2, entitled ‘Review of the unit price of end-use meters under the Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations,’ was addressed to managing directors, all electricity distribution companies and all meter asset providers.
The regulator increased the price of a single-phase meter from the current cost of N44,896.17 to N58,661.69.
Also, it hiked the price of a three-phase meter from the current cost of N82,855.19 to N109,684.36.
The hike excludes the 7.5percent Value Added Tax (VAT) the electricity distribution companies (DisCOs) are expected to add to the new price at the point of purchase.
Meanwhile, experts in the electricity industry, at the weekend, berated the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for hiking the price of meters, while suggesting that the commission go back to Credit Advanced Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI).
CAPMI, they opined, allows consumers who are non-investors, non-stakeholders to buy meter with any amount of money.
“If they buy the meter the government will give them a token with interest”, they maintained.
In his remarks, President, Nigerian Consumer Protection Network and member, Presidential Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of Electricity Tariff in Nigeria, Kunle Olubiyo, described the electricity sector as a ship without a captain.
“The challenge we have is lack of regulatory certainty. The regulator has eloped and abandoned his ship. When you have a regulator jumping overboard a ship, the ship will capsize. The regulator chose to abandon the ship. So, that is just what happened.
The captain of the ship has been missing. The regulatory ecosystem lacks some powers mainly because we have two metering schemes running side by side. The Meter Asset Provider (MAP) went to court because they have made a lot of investment and now we have the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) which has just exhausted its meters and it is expected to move to phase one. The gap between the migration from Zero Phase to Phase One is 8million to 10million. This is of public concern. It is not expected that there would be a vacuum in transition. If there is no vacuum in the supply chain and funding chain nobody will know the difference. But to us now, MAP licensees have refused to supply because of distortions in exchange rate volatility and other market variables. You know our economy is petro-dollar driven.
“As we speak there is a supply vacuum between Zero Phase and Phase One. If it is increased, we are saying that the government should go back to take a look at the Credit Advanced Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI) which allows consumers who are non-investors, non-stakeholders to buy metre at any amount of money. If they buy the metre the government will give them a token with interest”, he submitted.
However, President General, Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, Hon. Goodluck Ibem, posited that the increase would inflict more hardships on Nigerian electricity consumers, adding that Nigerians are still grappling with the hike in gas price.
“The increase in metre price will bring more hardships to the consumers.
“As we speak, the masses are still trying to come to terms with the increase in the price of gas.
“Another source of energy which is electricity will cause more hardships. The prices of things are on the increase on daily basis and Nigerians are suffering and some people are dying out of hardship”, he noted.