Abuja Disco installs 5000 meters in Niger pilot project     

In a swift move towards regulatory compliance on metering, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has commenced the installation of 5,000 meters in Tunga area of Niger State under the pilot scheme of its planned mass metering project.

Speaking with newsmen Tuesday, after an inspection visit to the installation sites in Minna, the Niger Niger State capital, Ernest Mupwaya, AEDC’s executive director, commercial services, said the company would use the pilot scheme to assess the efficacy of the smart meters ahead of the planned mass roll out of 100,000 in 2016.

He explained that the rationale behind the installation of the meters is “to ensure that we sell a product for which the customers are confident and sure that they are getting value for the electricity they are paying for.

“Meters allow customers and the company to monitor adequate use and amount of electricity allocated to each meter through a device attached to it and also our control room”, he added.

Mupwaya, who represented Neil Croucher, AEDC’s managing director/CEO, further explained that the overall plan of the company is to have all its customers metered within four to five years.

The ongoing pilot scheme would also enable the company to assess all challenges involved for it to evolve a more robust way of deploying the new meters across its franchise area, which spans across the three states of Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory.

“As some of our customers are aware, this investment has been captured in the new tariff which has just been approved for us. Going forward, we shall roll out en masse across our entire franchise area after we have ascertained the performance of these smart meters,” Mupwaya reiterated.

Speaking on the installation of the meters, Musa Ibrahim, a customer of AEDC in Tunga, said that the new smart meters would allow customers to get a clear way to determining and conserving electricity.

“With the explanations given, this new meters will allow me to quickly buy energy and monitor my balance in the comfort of my bedroom,” he said.