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.
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