Report: 4.85 million Nigerian electricity customers remain without meters

Nigeria’s electricity distributors increased meter installations in June, but nearly 4.85 million active customers still lacked meters, according to figures from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The 11 distribution companies metered 104,585 customers in May and another 203,521 in June, for a combined 308,106. Monthly installations rose 94.6 percent from May to June, lifting the national metering rate from 60.22 percent to 61.51 percent.

The number of active electricity customers also increased, from 12,520,435 in May to 12,589,486 in June. Metered customers rose from 7,540,318 to 7,743,839. Despite that progress, 4,845,647 customers remained without meters, equal to about 38.5 percent of the active customer base.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate in June, at 88.70 percent, followed by Ikeja Electric at 87.91 percent and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company at 81.38 percent. Port Harcourt stood at 68.66 percent and Benin at 61.01 percent. Jos recorded the lowest rate at 35.42 percent, followed by Yola at 36.20 percent, Kaduna at 39.83 percent and Kano at 40.67 percent.

Ibadan DisCo installed the largest number of newly metered customers in June, with 80,643, followed by Kano with 44,753, Benin with 18,739 and Abuja with 18,419. NERC said some June figures included installations completed between January and May that the distributors had not previously reported. The regulator has linked the metering campaign to efforts to reduce estimated billing and make electricity charges more transparent. It has criticized distributors for slow performance and told them to accelerate installations. In addressing paid-for meters that remained uninstalled, NERC said, "If your network is not ready for metering, do not collect."

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If your network is not ready for metering, do not collect.