Aba Power Limited, Nigeria’s newest electricity distribution company, has successfully distributed over 22,000 smart prepaid meters since launching its Mass Metering campaign last November.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“While our stakeholders are pleased with our progress since the programme’s rollout,” said Aba Power Managing Director Ugo Opiegbe to select journalists in Aba today, “we aim to achieve even more in the next six months and set an even higher target afterward.”
The estimated cost for installing meters for approximately 200,000 registered customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area is at least N32 billion.
Aba Power began commercial operations in September 2022 and supplies electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State.
To alleviate the financial burden on the company, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has directed Aba Power to collaborate with meter vending companies. These companies now charge customers between N129,000 and N147,640.01 for a single-phase meter and N227,207.76 and N241,875 for a three-phase meter, up from N88,124 and N154,624 for single-phase and three-phase meters, respectively.
“We regret these increases during these challenging times for Nigerians, but they are unavoidable due to the naira’s depreciation against the dollar,” Opiegbe explained. “The good news is that customers will recoup the payments over 10 years through electricity credit.”
Opiegbe also revealed that Aba Power is currently working with two meter vendors and is considering increasing the number to completely eliminate estimated meter readings.
“Estimated bills are unacceptable to us because they do not promote accountability and transparency,” Opiegbe stated. “They do not instill confidence in our customers, so they cannot be satisfied.”
