NERC directives and failure of metering by DisCos
It is a year since the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) under the then acting Chairman, Anthony Akah, directed that the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos) must install metres for all Maximum Demand (MD) customers in six months. Our report
The directive which was started by June 2016 was to last till November 31. The DisCos were to ensure that such customers; comprising hoteliers, factories and other commercial business entities, were no longer given the estimated bill but accurately metred.
However, at the expiration of the six months period, the operators were given another three months that expired in February 2017. One year after this, NERC finally came up with a directive on Friday, June 9, 2017, telling MD customers who had not been metred by March 2017, to stop paying the estimated bills brought to them.
As at October 2016, a hotelier in Life Camp in Abuja, who was yet to be metred, said he got an average of N80,000 on the estimated billing system every month. Mr. Okeke Chibuzor said he anticipated getting the metre so that he would actually know and pay for what he consumed.
“I am ready to pay for my power bills but it should be something moderate, not what is being estimated for me. I thank NERC for the directive but they must follow it up so that the DisCos do not evade it,” he advised.
Daily Trust observations on the MD customers’ metering timeline shows that the extension of the deadline to February 2017 was so because power sector operators complained of the foreign exchange and sector liquidity crises constraining the procurement of metres.
Our updates showed that at the expiration of the deadline by February 2017, many of the DisCos had reportedly completed the metering of such MD or Large Power Users (LPU) within their franchise area.
The Managing Director of Abuja DisCo, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, during a visit to NERC, said the company had 3,500 of such customers and that they had been metered by 100 per cent before the March deadline.
Kano DisCo’s spokesman, Mohammed Kandi, said the DisCo had over 1,000 LPUs and that they were all metered before the deadline of November 30, 2016, was given.
“We were not caught up in that directive. We had over 1,000 Maximum Demand (MD) customers fully metered before the deadline was given,” he said on phone.
In a text message, Kaduna Electric, apparently caught in the deadline, said only 30 customers in that category were left to be completed immediately after the February 28 deadline.
“We have less than 30 MD customers left to be metered and the entire exercise will be completed by this weekend,” the spokesman, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, told our reporter.
Beside Abuja and Kano DisCos that confirmed their full compliance to our reporter, few other DisCos had not completely met the dateline of February 28 set by NERC for metering all the large power users with dedicated transformers across Nigeria.
NERC had said in the directive giving February 2017 deadline that defaulters would come under its sanctions from March 1. NERC was silent after the dateline expired but even with the notice had read that: “It is hereby put on notice that the commission shall commence regulatory action against any defaulting DisCo(s), beginning March 1, 2017.”
NERC still failed to disclose the form of sanction it would hand out to the defaulting DisCos, and what measures it was putting in place to push the DisCos to deploy more metres for the small power users.
The acting Chairman and Vice Chairman of NERC, Engr. Sanusi Garba, in a response to Daily Trust enquiries in early March after the dateline expired, said the commission was collating and verifying the data submitted by the 11 DisCos on their compliance level. “This is to be followed with enforcement action in accordance with the law,” he had added.
Speaking on the metering effort of the DisCos, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Bar. Sunday Oduntan, told our reporter that the regulators were aware of the efforts the DisCos were putting in ensuring that they metered the maximum demand customers.
He explained that the association had been able to provide over three million metres since privatisation. “There is no technology that will provide over three million to Nigerian customers over 12 months. The regulators know about this and that is why they set February 28 ultimatum for us to provide metres for the maximum demand customers,” Oduntan said.
But NERC’s acting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Akah, assured that the commission would take measures to check exploitation through estimated billing.
Daily Trust analysis shows that this is the second time NERC had issued a directive to the MD customers about what to do if they were not yet metred.
In January 2017, NERC gave in a published notice of intention to commence regulatory action over failure to meter maximum demand electricity customers said: “Sequel to the above directives and approach of the expiration date of the moratorium period, it is hereby put on notice that the commission shall commence regulatory action against any defaulting DisCo(s), beginning March 1, 2017.
“Any electricity customer on MD category who is yet to be metred as at February 28, 2017 should report to the commission through any of our Forum Offices,” it stated.
It urged any electricity customers on MD category that were yet to be metred as at February 28, 2017, to report to the commission through its 19 Forum Offices across the country.
In the fresh directive issued last Friday, June 9, the commission said it was validating the metering exercise for the MD customers.
It said upon expiration of the compliance deadline and subsequent review of reports submitted by the DisCos: “The Commission has further directed that any MD customer not provided metre by March 1, 2017, shall not pay any electricity bill presented by a DisCo on the basis of estimated billing methodology, and these customers are advised to report to the commission.”
It also ordered the 11 DisCos not to disconnect any such customer that has not been metred.
“No DisCo shall disconnect any MD customer that was not metred by March 1, 2017, on the basis of the customer’s refusal to pay a bill issued after the compliance deadline on the basis of estimated billing methodology,” the published directive read.
With the directive, some DisCos; including AEDC, had issued statements confirming that such customers had completely been metred.
While many electricity customers have lauded this directive, many of them who are residential customers have called for the replication of the timeline for metering residential customers.
A resident in Abuja, Sadiq Mohammed, said, “It is a good direction. We do hope that all other customers will all be metred just like MD customers.”
Mr Tayo Egunjobi, a commercial customer in Minna, Niger State, who is not within the category of MD customers, told our reporter that; “the DisCos are pressed hard, they may not completely metre customers. NERC must go hard on them and also monitor the quality of metre they are installing because many of such metres; including in Jos DisCo, are said to be defective.”