Why estimated bills continue to plague the power sector growth
The Nigeria power sector has over the years faced several challenges across the value chain. However, whenever issues pertaining to the sector come up for discussion especially as it affect distribution companies and their teeming customers, estimated billing tops the discourse.
It is not difficult to decipher that Nigerians on a daily basis continue to groan under the burden of estimated billing system by electricity distributors companies.
Despite the directive by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commissions that all electricity distributors in the country should provide meters to all the unmetered electricity consumers so as to effectively end the regime of the indiscriminate billing of customers. The solution remains the same as Nigerians still complain of being exploited.
Metering statistics released by the NERC in April 2016 revealed that there were over six million electricity customers with verified accounts throughout the country. While 3.1 million of them had meters, the other 2.9m did not have; hence they are placed on the estimated billing methodology. By October 2016, the figure of metered customers had increased to 3.329m.
Kola Momoh, an industry expert said fluctuating policies have negatively impacted meter production in Nigeria adding that installation and not production of meters is a major crux in the metering space.
Momoh advised that the non-challant attitude of the DISCOs in metering consumers should be discouraged.
Industry experts observe that the DISCOs are scared they will not be able to survive. This set of “investors” need to up their game or they risk being replaced in the future.
They disclosed that basically estimated billing is DISCOs’ lowest hanging fruit to accruing “quick-profit”. DISCOs are simply illiquid.
“This is the only way they can make money without investment. A bad person sees a loophole and makes use of it” he tweeted.
Sola Adeyemo, representative of the Managing Director of Ibadan DISCO observed that Metering is a business adding that people are actually fed up with estimated billing as the average cost of a prepaid meter is 53,000.
Adeyemo disclosed that there is an average shortfall of N2billion monthly in the Ibadan DISCO, adding that this is occasioned by the fact that there are entire communities in various states in Nigeria, where meters are expertly bypassed.
Analyst said a good government sees providing electricity as a major responsibility. Nigeria however needs to bring together power system engineers home and abroad to lead this project of power systems. Otherwise, no show!
Industry watchers are of the opinion that organisations like the World Bank will request some form of transparency to invest in Nigerian power system.
When Nigeria needs electricity, she will remove politics from it. When things deteriorate so much, even those benefitting from the rot will help. Level of poverty, authority stealing with impunity, low self-esteem, unemployment and many factors are involved.
They observed that a solution based on power system engineering that prevents anybody to by-pass electricity is what operators in the power sector needs to provide.
KELECHI EWUZIE