Is it that FG’s hands are so tied in sanctioning Discos for not investing much?
From all indications, the key challenge frustrating the nation’s electricity sector remains the electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) as both Gencos and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had done the needful in raising their game through investments and expansion.
The slippery attention by Discos to issues bordering on metering consumers according to experts is deliberate as analysis has shown that they make more money from estimated billing system than prepaid meters, hence it will only be by government sanctions of force that can compel Discos to meter every consumer.
Business Hilights recalls that the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) recently pointed out that over 5.3 million customers had not been metered by power distributors since more than five years after the distribution companies took over the privatised power assets.
Whereas NERC’s efforts to introduce Meter Access Providers (MAPs) was to beat the Discos game, it has never been in doubt, that it was the duty of power distributors to provide meters, a responsibility that they still shoulder regardless of the MAPs initiative.
Latest report by NEMSA in its 2018 metering statistics for Nigeria revealed that the total customer base in the power sector stood at 8,914,601, while the number of metered customers was put at 3,591,168, leaving a shortfall of 5,323,433.
Besides, NEMSA had urged customers to ensure that they use NEMSA tested and certified meters, as it noted that the quality and accuracy of any energy meter put into use without having being tested, certified fit for use and sealed by NEMSA could not be guaranteed.
Such a meter, according to NEMSA, will be classified as being deployed illegally and constituted a risk to lives and property.
There are reports that since the introduction of MAPs last year, no Discos have clearly shown strong interest in partnering with any of the 85 approved MAPs, a strong indication that Discos are not willing to meter Nigerians and only government force can compel them to do so.
The question now is whether the federal government will muster the courage to force Discos to either on their own or in partnership with MAPs to meter Nigerians as soon as possible so as to end the ear of surreptitious estimated billings in Nigeria amounts the entire 11 Discos.
Only recently, the Managing Director of TCN, Usman Mohammed, stated that the transmission company had invested heavily in the transmission arm of the sector, as over $1.6bn had been raised for transmission infrastructure since the past three years, but no Disco can face their according to him, “Now, the biggest problem we have is the distribution of power because that is where investment has not been much.
Mohammed added that “I can tell you that there are various initiatives that have been put in place to fix the distribution sector. And part of the key challenge of distribution is metering. If you remember there is this MAPs (Meter Asset Providers) policy approved by NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission), where people have been licensed to procure and sell meters. So, very soon, meters will flood the system so that every customer will be metered.”
He said, “Also, if you can remember, government has come up with the distribution expansion plan, which is an investment of about N72bn and TCN is jointly implementing this with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. This is ongoing and there are several other initiatives to fix the distribution arm.”
However, explaining more on the status of the N72bn and whether the funds had been deployed for the revamp of the distribution arm, Mohammed stated that the government was in the procurement stage.
Mohammed added that “We have substantially completed the procurement for about half of that N72bn. This is because procurement takes time, because you have to advertise and evaluate. But I think we have completed the evaluation and we have forwarded it to the right channel. We are waiting for the no objection.”
