Metering: NERC flays DisCos for slow, poor MAP engagements

* 9 DisCos’ MDs absent, as NERC blows hot

The chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Prof. James Momoh, has flayed heads of the Distribution Companies (DisCos) for their slow and poor process of engaging Meter Assets Providers (MAPs), despite the rising agitations by electricity users to be metered.

Speaking on Tuesday at a MAP Conference in Lagos organised by NERC, Prof. Momoh said in spite of the urgent nature of closing the metering gaps and calming agitations on overly estimated power bills, some DisCos are still “taking it as something for play.”

The MAP Regulations became effective on April 3, 2018 from when the DisCos were to procure and engage MAP firms that obtained ‘No Objection’ certificate from NERC in 120 days. NERC in July extended it by 90 days, elapsing in November but with no visible customer metering so far.

Momoh was visibly displeased over the absence of nine of the 11 DisCos’ Managing Directors at the conference which had the full NERC commissioners in attendance and the prospective MAPs.

Nine DisCos’ representatives, the Managing Director of Benin DisCo, Funke Osibodu and her counterpart at Yola DisCo, Mustapha Baba Umara gave updates on procuring the MAP contracts.

However, no DisCo reported going beyond evaluation stage to deploying meters to their customers.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust on the sidelines, the NERC head said the MAP implementation may not be visible by January 2019 but that government would press hard on the DisCos through MAP to close the metering gaps by 2020.

One of the prospective MAPs, Odion Omonfoman of New Hampshire Capital said some DisCos demand that MAPs provide power and arrest culprits of energy theft which is outside the Regulation’s framework as he called on NERC to intervene.

NERC Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye blamed DisCos for the variation and delay after the Commission on their request had extended the procurement timeline.

He said, “Telling a MAP to share in where you are providing power is outside the contract and we will not approve that when it is returned to NERC.

“The Commission will take it very seriously. At your request, they extended the procurement deadline and from that duration, anyone who has failed to meet up the requirements, we will have to address that issue,” he warned the DisCos.