. ‘With CAPMI, NMMP, MAP’ 6.15 metered, 6.13 million still receive estimated bills monthly
Fifty (50) per cent of electricity consumers in Nigeria are still on the estimated billing system 11 years after power privatisation.
Platforms Africa reports that the electricity industry was privatised with the sales of the assets in the generation and the distribution strata of the industry on Friday, November 1, 2013.
Between November 2013 and November 2024, about 3.03 million prepaid electricity meters were installed across Nigeria as part of various initiatives, raising the total number of metered customers to 6.15 million. However, an estimated 6.13 million customers still remain on estimated billing.
Despite several metering initiatives such as the CAPMI, NMMP, and MAP schemes, Nigeria’s metering gap remains significant at approximately 50%, which presents a major challenge to the power sector’s financial sustainability.
This was revealed in a document presented by Dr. Yusuf Ali, Commissioner for Planning, Research, and Strategy at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), during PwC’s Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable in Lagos, where he discussed the theme “Reigniting Hope in Nigeria’s Electric Power Sector.”
Top Govt Official Forfeits 753 Duplexes, Apartment In Nigeria’s Biggest Fraud Penalty
Married Nigerian Content Creator, Egungun, In Alleged S3x Scandal + PHOTOS
Pasuma and Osupa Don’t Senior Me in Music – Malaika
Further analysis highlights a persistent metering shortfall. In 2020, only 4.66 million prepaid meters were installed against a demand of 11.84 million, leaving 8.17 million customers unmetered. The situation continued in 2021, with 4.69 million meters installed out of 12.86 million required, resulting in 7.18 million unmetered customers.
By 2022, the metering rate increased slightly to 42.22%, with 5.13 million meters installed out of 12.15 million, leaving 7.02 million unmetered. In 2023, installations reached 5.84 million out of a total demand of 13.16 million, leaving 7.32 million unmetered. As of 2024, only 6.15 million meters had been installed out of a required 13.33 million, leaving another 7.18 million customers unmetered. The metering rate stands at 46.14%, still near 50%, indicating that almost half of all electricity consumers are billed based on estimates.
Dr. Ali emphasized that the metering challenge is worsened by inadequate customer enumeration by the Distribution Companies (DisCos). He pointed out, “Metering is the lifeblood of revenue recovery; the effective tariff reforms will be imperiled by poor metering.
The NERC Commissioner expressed hope that the ongoing shift from Service-Based Tariffs (SBT) to cost-reflective tariffs would lead to a significant increase in the number of customers captured under the metering framework.
