Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that it has disbursed about N3.6 billion for procurement of pre-paid meters to stabilise the billing system in electricity consumption in Nigeria.
This is part of its effort to invest N120.2 billion in the power sector, DisCos, for infrastructure capital expenditure.
The CBN intervention to the electricity sector will make about 55.5 per cent of Nigeria’s 8.3 million electricity customers who have no meter but are placed on an estimated billing system to heave a sigh of relief.
According to the group’s Chairman, Mr Usman John he reiterated that metering was a major challenge in the power industry that need to be addressed by the federal government.
He further urged the government to scrap the use of the estimated billing system by the DisCos, describing it as “complete fraud”.
Ideally, consumers power consumption should be determined by the metering system as this is important for the growth of the sector
“Many consumers are suffering under the burden of estimated billing which is nothing but criminality. People are issued bills for what they did not consume and this must stop. That is why what the CBN is doing is commendable.
“We want the bank to go beyond just providing the money for the meters and ensure those meters are procured and given to consumers without any charge”, he added.
Commenting on the intervention, PwC’s Associate Director, Energy, Utilities and Resources, Habeeb Jaiyeola, said it remained the right step given the fact that current installed capacity for the generation companies in Nigeria, the inability of the DisCos to completely distribute and collect payment would continue to hinder the ability of the country to fully leverage the installed capacity.
According to him, “Government’s continued support to DisCos will have an overall impact on the sector to facilitate the required progress, adding that the federal government also has equity ownership in the DisCos needs to see to their successes.
