MAP: Why NERC presses DisCos on customers’ metering, 8 months after rule

This is a once in a life time opportunity in Nigeria where customers for the first time will not have to ask a question of I have no meter and I need metering device in my home, and I do not like the estimated billing,” said Professor James Momoh, the Chairman Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently when he spoke about the Meter Assets Providers (MAP) Regulation, eight months after it became effective.

NERC initiated the regulation on April 3, 2018 and it was supposed to materialize with evidence of the 11 power Distribution Companies (DisCos) engaging MAP firms within 120 days and they installing meters for the nearly 3 million unmetered DisCos’ customers.

Daily Trust reports that almost close to the end of the 120 days, NERC in July extended it by another 90 days which ought to have ended in October. But two months down and there is no pointer to mass metering of customers by the DisCos through the MAP as anticipated.

Worried about this, NERC held a conference in Lagos last week with the potential MAP firms and the DisCos. However, only the Managing Directors of Benin and Yola DisCos were on ground as the nine others sent in representative, a pill too bitter for NERC to take.

NERC Chairman, Momoh who reacted to this suggesting that the DisCos were taking it taking it as something for play said: “It is not acceptable because this meeting is about facilitating the objectives and ambitions of each of the MDs/CEOs of the DisCos to close the metering gap.”

Momoh further set the timeline for closing the metering gap saying government would press harder on the DisCos through MAP to close it by 2020.

He said: “We don’t guarantee that it will be January 1st 2019 but at least before 2020, all Nigerian homes will be metered and all customers who want power in their homes will be metered.”

milestone by

MAP DisCos

The 11 DisCos presented their milestone in procuring the MAP firms who have been given ‘No Objection’ clearance permit by NERC. While few DisCos had progressed, none has deployed meters to customers through this regulation, about eight months after it became effective.

MD of Yola DisCo, Mustapha Baba Umara said it was procuring 400 meters through MAP and had received bids from 10 MAP firms but hasn’t evaluated the bids after they were opened two weeks ago.

Kano DisCo got requests from MAP firms but only seven submitted their bids; it was yet to do evaluation. Kaduna DisCo got 10 bids out of 16 MAP firms who initially made the request, it said the evaluation process was ongoing.

Benin DisCos seems to be only DisCo that has progressed significantly with its model. The MD, Funke Osibodu said the DisCo got 27 requests for the meter provision but seven bids were successful. Only four met the timeline for their financial plan submission which she said they await NERC to approve its report for the MAP firms to begin meter deployment according to the locations the MAPs have chosen.

For Enugu DisCo, among the 20 interested firms, three bids passed but none passed the technical requirements. “We sat them down on this and they will return next week and if it is successful, we will go ahead to open the financial bid,” its representative explained to NERC.

Port Harcourt DisCo said it was still evaluating bids from the three successful MAP firms. Bashir Yusuf, a representative of Jos DisCo said two bidding firms were successful and will be engaged after NERC approves its report.

For Ibadan DisCo, its representative, Bimbo Dada said it had completed evaluation picking nine firms from 35 interested firms. Ikeja DisCo has also completed evaluation and has submitted to NERC for auditing; it picked 10 successful firms from among 30 interested firms.

For Eko DisCo, it said from 49 interested firms, 16 bids were being considered but they were all for Ojo District as it plans to meter its customers in phases under its franchise areas. Reacting immediately to this, NERC Commissioner, Finance & Management Services, Nathan Rogers Shatti, said the MAP Regulation has no provision for DisCos to do pilot metering as Eko DisCo’s plan was an apparent deviation from the rule of MAP engagement.

Abuja DisCo has submitted its report to NERC Audit to approve before it can proceed: from 23 interested firms, the DisCo picked four who were successful in the bids.

Procurement: MAP firms differ with DisCos

Giving their own reports, some of the potential MAP firms seem to differ with the DisCos’ experience.

The head of New Hampshire Capital, Odion Omonfoman said some DisCos demand that MAPs provide power to customers, and arrest culprits of energy theft which he said was outside the Regulation’s framework as he called on NERC to intervene.

The Executive Director of Mojec International Ltd, a MAP firm and meter manufacturer, Chantelle Abdul also stated challenges her firm was facing as she asked NERC to press hard on the DisCos to make it successful.

Summing the challenges the MAP firms face with the DisCos in deploying the meters, Abdulkadir Shettima of NERC and Chairman of the MAP Committee said the DisCos lack expertise and procurement capacity, issues of transparency and disclosure on the part of the DisCos among other hiccups which had apparently dragged the procurement process.

Way forward?

NERC Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye blamed DisCos for the variation and delay in the procurement, after the Commission on their request had extended the procurement timeline.

He said, “Telling a MAP to share in where you are providing power is outside the contract and we will not approve that when it is returned to NERC.

“The Commission will take it very seriously. At your request, they extended the procurement deadline and from that duration, anyone who has failed to meet up the requirements, we will have to address that issue,” he warned the DisCos.