OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has said it is currently working with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to address the sudden introduction of a 35% additional import levy imposed by the Federal Government on fully assembled meters.
In its 2020 first-quarter report, NERC said while noting the imperative for encouraging local content in the metering sector, it had made a case for a deferral of the new import levy to allow for the roll out of meters under the framework of the MAP Regulation.
The Metering Asset Providers, MAP regulations issued by the Commission on 8 March 2018, aims to fast-track the roll-out of end-use meters through the engagement of third-party investors for the financing, procurement, supply, installation and maintenance of electricity meters.
However, NERC in the report described the fee as “a major challenge” that had slowed down the metering target.
In addition, the Commission said it has continued to review the performance of MAPs with a view to addressing all other challenges affecting meter deployments by DisCos under MAP initiative.
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“Although no new regulations were issued in the first quarter of 2020, the Commission continued the process of gazetting some of the existing regulations including the Nigerian Electricity Supply and Installation Standards Regulations”.
”Also, the Commission continued to monitor the enforcement of provisions of existing regulations including the MAP regulations. On the other hand, the Commission issued three orders”, the report said.
