The Federal Government announced on Wednesday that it had
begun the procurement of four million meters to be distributed free of charge
to unmetered power users across the country.
It also estimated that there are about eight million
unmetered electricity users in Nigeria, with over 860,000 meters distributed
for free to power users as part of phase zero of the National Mass Metering
Program.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is expected
to review the country’s power tariffs by next month, barring any unforeseen
circumstances.
Shittu Shuaibu, NERC’s Deputy General Manager, Consumer
Affairs, described the four million free meters being procured as phase one of
the NMMP, which had begun.
He said the Meter Asset Providers had been able to deploy about
860,000 meters under phase zero of the mass metering programme, thanks to their
collaboration with the distribution companies.
“The programme is supposed to run in three phases which
include phase zero, phase one and phase two. Phase zero was rounded up around
the end of October. Phase one has actually commenced and it is another
government intervention of about four million meters.
“So far we have deployed about 860,000 or close to 900,000
meters, which were part of the one million meters that was procured as part of
government intervention. For the four million meters, the procurement process
has commenced,” Shuaibu added.
He explained that the mass metering intervention was not
free because the government provided loans to Nigerians for the purchase of
these meters.
According to Shuaibu, power distribution companies would be
part of the loans, which would be repaid over a ten-year period at a low
interest rate through the Central Bank of Nigeria.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment