Chairman, NERC, Dr Sam Amadi
The
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said it will not allow
the importation of electricity meters into the country as long as local
manufacturers have the capacity to meet demand.
The NERC said it was committed to
promoting local content in the nascent private sector-driven power
sector, adding that there were huge business opportunities in the
sector.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 6th Annual
Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors,
Lagos Chapter, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NERC, Dr. Sam
Amadi, said, “We will not allow importation of meters unless we have a
proof that local manufacturers cannot meet the demand, as we are
committed to enhancing local production.”
Some of the local meter manufacturers are
Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited, Mojec
International Limited and Electricity Meter Company of Nigeria, which
are poised to meet the pent-up demand in the country, according to the
Electricity Meter Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
Commenting on complaints of
non-deployment of prepaid meters by the electricity distribution
companies, the NERC boss said the commencement of the transitional
electricity market later in the year would force the private investors
who acquired the successor power companies last year to live up to the
performance agreements they signed with the government.
“Most of the conditions precedents for
the commencement of the transitional stage have been attained,” said
Amadi, who was represented by the Deputy General Manager in the
commission’s Engineering Division, Mr. Abdullahi Muhammed.
Based on the proposals submitted by the
core investors in the Discos, 6.52 million new meters will be installed
over the course of five years, meaning more than one million will be
installed yearly.
The metering gap in the market is very
huge, with about 50 per cent of consumers being without meters,
according to a committee on metering recently set up by NERC.
“Consumer metering is a major challenge
to the viability of the Discos. Presently, there is still a very high
reliance on the notorious practice of estimated billing for revenue
collection, which is estimated to be as high as 50 per cent in some
Discos,” Amadi said.
He noted that customers’ restiveness had
been heightened by the very high estimated bills being distributed by
the Discos despite the present poor state of supply from the grid.
“Discos have equally displayed poor
compliance to the estimated methodology developed by the commission to
assist in ensuring objectivity in estimation of electricity customers’
consumption,” he further said.
The President, NIQS, Mallam Murtala
Aliyu, said the challenges of gas supply and weak transmission presented
huge opportunities for Nigerians to invest, adding that the opening up
of the transmission business to private investors would further expand
the opportunities.
“Presently the state of the national
electricity transmission network capacity is at about 4,500MW; beyond
this value, the integrity of the network is threatened,” Amadi had said.
NERC had recently proposed a regulation
on national content development for the power sector, aimed at
establishing a framework for the development of the sector in a way that
there would be increased localisation of technology, services and
employment opportunities for Nigerians.
He draft regulation seeks to retain at
least 95 per cent of available jobs in the power sector for Nigerians in
order to increase local participation in the emerging new industry,
among others.