OpeOluwani Akintayo
25 July 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Ikeja Electric Plc, IE, has announced the take off of a new metering plan as it commenced the distribution of single and three phase prepaid meters across its network.
The company said the commencement of distribution of the meters was in keeping with its promise to ensure that its customers were metered, thereby reducing the incidence of estimated billing.
The delivery of the first batch of meters by Mojec International Ltd, MBH Power and Beacon Power Services Ltd, allows for remote data access and vending, which in turn contributes significantly to the energy conservation advocacy of IE.
Reputed to be largely tamper-proof, the meters will also help IE deal with recurrent cases of illegal meter bypass, energy theft and other illegal issues that have plagued the power distribution with regard to older and less secure meters.
Speaking on the metering exercise, Ikeja Electric’s Head, Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, noted that though the meters were free, installation cost may apply.
He explained that customers would receive the meters in line with a schedule of distribution that was feeder-based, after they had filled out the application form, which is available at any IE’s offices and the official website.
“Once the customers have been approved, location surveyed and other relevant technical assessments carried out, our technical partners overseeing that specific location will handle installation of the meters,” he said.
According to him, over 85,000 meters will be installed in the first rollout phase which will take place concurrently across the six business units in IE’s coverage area.
He clarified that this rollout is different from the Meter Access Providers, MAPs, rollout agenda, a Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, programme approved by the Federal Government, which is expected to commence towards the end of the year.
