The Much Needed Prepaid Electricity Meters Now Sell For N60,000

The cost of acquiring pre-paid
electricity meters by
consumers in the country has
risen due to the fall in the value
of the naira following the
currency’s recent devaluation
by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A single-phase meter, according
to findings by our correspondent,
can now be obtained for N39,375,
while the three-phase meter now
goes for N60,909.
Before now, the single-phase and
three-phase meters were selling
for N25,000 and N50,000.
However, with the latest
development, the cost of the
single-phase meter has risen by
56 per cent, while that of the
three-phase meter has jumped by
20 per cent.

This means that household
electricity consumers, who are
majorly the users of single-phase
meters, will pay more for the
devices in relative terms
compared to the users of the
three-phase meters.
Our correspondent gathered that
the price increase was because
most of the meters in the
Nigerian electricity market were
imported and that the rising
exchange rate of the naira to the
United States dollar was posing a
huge problem to importers of the
product.

For companies assembling the
different components of the
meters locally, the challenge is
the same because foreign
exchange is needed to import the
components.

Confirming the current cost of
the meters, the spokesperson for
the Eko Electricity Distribution
Company, Mr. Godwin Idemudia,
said, “The single-phase smart
meter is N39,375, while three-
phase meter is N60,901,” adding
that the company was no longer
installing ordinary prepaid
meters.

The spokesperson for the Ikeja
Electricity Distribution Company,
Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, told our
correspondent in a telephone
interview that the company had
not commenced its metering
programme yet; but was looking
at starting it on or before May.

He said the company was taking
its time to ensure that the meters
it would introduce to customers
met global standard and could
stand the test of time.
He, however, urged customers to
be patient with the firm.

The Managing Director/Chief
Executive Officer, Powercap
Limited, Mr. Biodun Ogunleye,
told our correspondent in a
telephone interview that because
Nigeria was largely a foreign
currency regulated economy, the
devaluation of the naira would
affect imported commodities,
electricity meters inclusive.
With the realities on the ground,
he said there was no way the
pricing of the meters would not
be altered.

Ogunleye said, “A lot of inputs
have to be imported, and
ultimately, those inputs will be
passed onto the consumers at the
cost plus margins. As a result, the
costs of bringing in meters will
go up; and there is nothing
anybody can do about it.

“It is a priority that must be
implemented because the people
who are operating in the market
will be interested in maximising
their revenue. They will not want
to encourage any form of income
leakages.”

He said by this, whatever pricing
the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission had fixed
would be revisited because it had
a little choice as far as granting a
review was concerned.

The Powercap boss added, “We
have one or two local plants that
can produce meters. The high
foreign exchange may prompt the
government to intervene, and
thus make the business more
profitable.

“But bear in mind that when it
comes to meters like many other
electronics, the specification and
a couple of other factors between
the distribution companies and
the meter manufacturers must be
adhered in order to drive
patronage.”

He said EKEDC was looking at
installing prepaid meters that
could be monitored from its
offices, adding that the move was
targeted at ensuring that
communication was enhanced
between it and the meters,
notwithstanding where they were
installed.

A text message sent by our
correspondent to the Chairman,
NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, to confirm
the position of the agency on the
matter was not responded to as of
the time of going to press, just as
a call to his mobile telephone line
indicated that it was switched off.

However, the Chief Executive
Officer, EKEDC, Mr. Oladele
Amoda, during the company’s
first quarter meeting with the
media on Monday, said it was
looking at investing $20m in
providing meters to residential
users as well as other smaller
consumers of electricity.

For its key customer group, he
said about $15m would be
committed to meter provision,
promising that over 300,000
meters would be installed by the
end of the metering programme.

Source: PunchNg