OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — The obligation to ensure that all electricity consumers are metered remains with the Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos under Meter Asset Provider, MAP Regulations 2018, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has said.
In a statement by Dr. Usman Abba Arabi, NERC’s GM, Public Affairs Department on Thursday, the commission said the above statement is consistent with their respective licensing terms and conditions and Section 4 (1) of the said regulations that provide that, inter alia, “Distribution licensee is responsible for the achievement of metering targets as specified by the Commission from time to time.”
Furthermore, Section 4 (3) of the MAP Regulation requires that all distribution licensees shall engage the services of a Meter Asset Providers towards meeting the metering targets as specified by the commission, and in accordance with the provisions of the MAP Regulations 2018.
NERC cleared the air following speculations that since MAP has been introduced, the DisCos are no longer in charge of metering.
The DisCos were expected to engage MAPs within 120 days of coming into effect of the Regulations.
The deadline was earlier fixed for July 31, 2018, but was extended to November 30, 2018, to engender more competition between potential MAPs thus, providing better value for consumers.
However, several of the DisCos were unable to meet the deadline but NERC said the matter is being handled in line with its enforcement regulations.
“The Commission is currently reviewing the MAP procurement reports and successful Meter Asset Providers shall be announced after a meeting with the DisCos and preferred bidders scheduled to hold next week”.
“The Commission wishes to reaffirm its commitment to expedite closure of the current metering gap thus limiting the practice of estimated billing to very exceptional cases in line with the provisions of the MAP regulations”, the statement said.
