Contesting Billings: Tackling metering deficit to address energy theft
The Nigerian power sector, like other sectors in the Country, has its sphere marred with defecting characters. The concern over the wobbling state of the power sector in the Country has continued to draw resonance over the years. Unsurprising, of the strong bearing the sector holds to the working performance of the economy in whole. The number of underlining factors clustering to give the sector a wobbling definition is therefore inimical to the definition of the economy at large. The place of power among the crucial factors of production in economic activities remains essentially paramount in the light of modern day economic activities. It is glaring that the demands for power in the age of industrialisation have become largely indispensable and it is indisputable that no substitute for power is conceivable in sight in the demands of production in the ongoing industrialisation of the economy.
Several defective subjects in the power sector in Nigeria apparently spread across the wings of the sector from the generation, transmission and distribution subsections. While issues in each of these arms are enmeshed with numbers of challenges which themselves are subject of discourse, the subject of concerns of deficiencies in the distribution subsector has been a major bane in the discourse of Nigeria’s power sector. While several matters of concern are largely in view, the subject of electricity tariff in recent times remain contentious. Clamour over what has largely been described as “unfair tariff” has recently taken over public discourse in recent times. The clamour has largely revolved around the argument that power consumers are being charged unreasonably without measurable parameters open to determinable definitions by the consumers. The subject has therefore continued to raise heat as more power consumers argue and believe they are unfairly charged, cheated upon and randomly billed on assumptions without precise measures which provide for a clear system of determinable measurement of gauging the value of energy consumption and the commensurate relative charges. The concerns over the years have been a subject of controversy.
More recently, the increase in tariff has heightened the clamour with points of grievances raised on what many consumers believe is an irrational billing as against what value of energy they believe is consumed. The rancorous perception has been the basis for the calls for effective metering system to address the controversies surrounding perceived unfair and unbalanced billings which are incommensurate to consumption. It is, however, lamentable that despite the call and demands for a virile metering system, the provision of same has remained largely inadequate with huge deficits.
Last Friday, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed that over seven million power users have not been metered while three million meters installed in the residents of power users are obsolete. In its latest Order No. NERC/246/2021 on structured replacement of faulty and obsolete end-use customer meters, the commission stated that the three million obsolete meters were due for replacement, hinted that the large number of unmetered customers in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry contributes to the financial challenges bedeviling the sector. The Commission observed that the revenue assurance objectives of power distribution companies had also been challenged by being unable to properly account for the utilisation of electricity by end-use customers. The Order had read partly: “The commission notes that over seven million customers are currently unmetered as indicated by customer enumeration data. It is also estimated that an additional three million meters are currently obsolete and due for replacement. The existence of a large population of unmetered customers contributed to threats affecting the financial viability of NESI as unmetered end-use customers expressed deep dissatisfaction with the estimated billing methodology.”
Meters serve as a revenue assurance tool for NESI service providers and a resource management tool for end-use customers that receive services. According to the Commission, the metering code for the sector provided that to ensure financial viability of the electricity industry after the unbundling, modern accurate meter systems with reliable communication facilities shall be deployed across the industry production and supply chain. It emphasised that this was to measure and record energy production and utilisation. It would be recalled that in a bid to ensure the provision of meters, the Meter Asset Provider Regulations was introduced and came into force on April 3, 2018.
The deficits in metering system in Nigeria’s power sector is one deficient character of the distribution subsector, which clustering strings have continued to bear lines of distasteful effects on both the operators and consumers at the receiving end. The results of the defects is reflective in the difficulty distribution operators are enmeshed in, in getting accruals from supplies, as many users in their numbers have continued to demonstrate unwillingness to pay for bills. While those who pay do so with grievances, there are those who would rather maneuver the system to have their way consuming energy without paying for the commensurate value.
It is, therefore, incontestable that a top-notch metering system which is open to determinable measuring patterns understandable to end-users is more of a solution at sight, handy to addressing the prevailing energy theft and maneuver syndrome which is recorded across the Country. Rather than hovering around the lines of ill defined billings which has continued to generate resistance from end-users, it is more prudent for the operators to work handy with the Government in building an elaborate metering system that sufficiently cater for the entire population. This is essential to remove the element of cheat sensations which is largely prevalent among end-users who find it difficult to conceive the underlying parameters for charging their consumption of energy. The interfacing of clustering factors troubling the power sector have been overbearing on the sector with debilitating effects on the economy. The necessity to address the defective parameters of the working subsections of the sector is paramount towards a better narrative for economic productivity.
