*NERC Restates Commitment To Safeguarding Unmetered Customers From Arbitrary Billings By Firms
The Federal Government has told the electricity distribution companies, (DisCos)!loud and clear that consumers do not want to pay on the basis of estimated billings, but rather they would want to pay for what they actually consume and therefore be provided meters for this objective to be achieved.
Government’s admonition and advice came in through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) during a meeting with investors/owners of Discos in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry in Lagos State.
The lack of adequate meters has remained an issue in the power sector, as power distributors are still finding it tough to meter consumers in their various franchise areas, hence, have resorted to over-billing end users by issuing estimated bills.
On Monday, for instance, The PUNCH reported that power distribution companies overbilled about 7.1 million unmetered electricity consumers between January and September 2023.
The report stated that in the various Regulatory Interventions for Non-Compliance with the Order on Capping of Estimated Billing to Unmetered Customers, issued to the 11 Discos by the NERC, an agency of the Federal Government, it was established that the power distributors raked over N105bn as a result of over-billing.
But in a series of posts on its official X handle on Tuesday, NERC stated that it told the owners of Discos during the meeting in Lagos that the distribution firms were bound to provide meters, adding that this would also ameliorate the financial crisis in the sector.
The NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, while explaining the key role of metering in addressing some of the challenges in the NESI, was quoted as saying, “Metering is an issue. Without metering, the issue of liquidity will not be resolved.
“Customers want to pay for what they consume. It is the single most prevalent complaint of consumers. We cannot overlook the value of metering in the value chain, and we will continue to focus on how to close the gap because customers do not want to pay on the basis of estimated bills.”
Also speaking at the meeting, the Team Lead (Power), Office of the Special Adviser on Energy to the President, Eriye Onagoruwa, decried the huge metering gap in the power sector.
“There is a huge metering gap that needs to be bridged. The Presidential Metering Initiative is looking at bulk procurement of smart meters, developing homegrown systems of MDMS, reduction of ATC&C losses to globally accepted standards, and stakeholder engagement to identify challenges facing the sector, while carrying metering manufacturers along without compromising on cost, quality and delivery,” she stated.
Over seven million registered power users in the NESI are unmetered and are being charged estimated bills by the power 11 distribution companies.
On his part, the Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, NERC, Nathan Rogers, explained what customers should know with respect to the payment for meters.
He said, “Customers should not pay for meters when you (Discos) don’t have meters in stock. If you collect customers’ money, then you have to install meters for them at no additional cost regardless of when you install it,” he stated.
Rogers reminded the Discos that they cannot increase the meter price for customers that have already paid.
“You must meter customers at the price it was when they initially paid. You can’t charge them more,” he stated.
The Commissioner, Legal, Licencing and Compliance, NERC, Dafe Akpeneye, spoke on the lack of communication by Discos to their customers waiting to be metered.
He said, “NERC expects Discos to meter paid customers within 10 days. Currently, there is a communication gap with customers. Once they pay, you need to communicate with them and give them an installation date. Instead, the customer pays, hears nothing and continues to wait in perpetuity.”
The failure of Discos to provide meters had made the regulator put a cap on the amount that each power distributor should bill any particular customer in any given location.
But the Discos have been flauting this order by the regulator, leading to the recent sanction against the power firms by NERC.
It was reported on Saturday that the power sector regulator declared that it would deduct N10,505,286,072 from the annual allowed revenues of the 11 power distribution companies during the next tariff review as part of sanctions over their non-compliance with the capping of estimated bills for unmetered customers.
NERC stressed that the billing of unmetered customers by the power firms in their various franchise areas for 2023 revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the commission.
The regulator often issues orders stipulating the maximum amount that any unmetered customer is meant to pay to the distribution company that provides him or her electricity services.
The amount is continued until the customer is metered by the distribution company, according to NERC’s order to the power firms.
In its order, as reported on Saturday, the regulator said, “The public may recall that in 2020, the commission issued the order on Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/197/2020) and subsequently issued monthly energy caps which aimed to align the estimated bills for unmetered customers with the measured consumption of metered customers on the same supply feeder.
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“A review of the electricity distribution companies’ billing of unmetered customers for 2023 has revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the commission.”
In response to this and in a bid to safeguard unmetered customers from arbitrary billing by Discos, the commission stated that pursuant to Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023, it had issued the order on Non-Compliance with Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/2024/004-01 4).
It said the order stipulates the following: “i. Credit adjustment to customers: Discos are to issue credit adjustments to all over-billed unmetered customers for the period January to September 2023 by the March 2024 billing cycle.
“ii. Public notice: Discos have been directed to publish the list of credit adjustment beneficiaries in two national dailies and on their website no later than March 31, 2024.
“iii, Regulatory sanctions: The commission shall deduct a sum of N10,505,286,072 from the annual allowed revenues of the 11 Discos during the next tariff review, to deter future non-compliance with the energy caps approved by the commission.”
Electricity consumers nationwide have continued to lodge complaints against excessive estimated bills by power distribution companies in Nigeria.
For instance, there was a report on December 31, 2023, that power consumers lodged a total of 333,947 complaints bordering on metering, billing and service interruption to their various distribution companies within a period of three months.
