Consumers Kick Against 40% Electricity Meters Price Hike
The Nigerian Power consumers have opposed the increase in the prices of meters, calling on the government to consider Nigerians’ plight and reverse the price hike.
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, announced an increase in the prices of single-phase and three-phase pre-paid electricity meters, and declared that the hike takes effect from September 6, 2023
But explaining why it hiked the costs of the meters, the NERC said it was to ensure a fair and reasonable pricing of meters to both Meter Asset Providers and end-use customers.
It said the hike would ensure MAP’s ability to recover reasonable costs associated with meter procurement and maintenance, while ensuring that their pricing structure allowed for a viable return on investment.
Also Read: NERC Increases Prices of Prepaid Meters
“Evaluate the affordability of meter services for consumers, aiming to prevent excessive pricing that could burden end-users. Ensure that MAPs are able to provide meters to end-use customers in the prevailing economic realities,” the commission stated.
It said the closure of the metering gap for end-use customers was fundamental to the financial sustainability of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry as end-use meters provide revenue assurance to both the utility and their end-use customers.
“The Meter Asset Provider scheme is one of the four frameworks in the regulations for the provision of meters to end-use customers in NESI,” it added.
Reacting to this, the National Secretary, Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, Uket Obonga, said “they (government) have talking about this since the unification of the foreign exchange rates, but we warned against it due to the plights being faced by Nigerians currently.”
He said the hike was due to pressure from Meter Asset Providers on the government, as some of the MAPs threatened to pull out from the provision of meters if the cost of the equipment remained the same.
He added that Nigerian consumers were now grappling with excessive rise the costs of different products in the energy sectors, including the increase in fuel price, diesel price, meter price, etc.
