*The Eko Electricity Distribution Company, in Lagos State, has disclosed it plans to use the two-week on-the-spot application to speed up the metering of power consumers in some designated areas

Emmanuel Akosile | 绿帽献妻

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has flagged-off a mobile metering exercise for its customers in Festac Town, Satellite Town, Agboju, and other areas under its Festac District in Lagos.

ConsumeConnect learnt the electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) said it aimed to use the two-week on-the-spot application to speed up the metering of its customers in those areas.

Mr Godwin Idemudia, General Manager, Corporate Communications at EKEDC, Thursday, June 2, 2022, stated the exercise is being done under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme agency report said.

Idemudia said that the initiative is to support the existing online process of acquiring prepaid meters by customers under the MAP scheme.

The EKEDC General Manager also said: 鈥淲e have started in Festac and we will get to our other business districts in due course.鈥�

He urged EKEDC customers in Festac and its environs to visit the company鈥檚 district office at 23 Road, S Close in Festac Town to take advantage of this opportunity.

鈥淥ur customer service team and authorised MAP vendors 鈥� MOJEC International Ltd., are on ground to attend to customers in their meter applications,鈥� he said.

Also, Dr. Tinuade Sanda, Managing Director, EKEDC, said metering is a major concern to the DisCo because there was need to accurately measure the energy consumed by customers to reduce its losses.

Dr. Sanda noted: 鈥淎s much as we have made our estimated billing process to be as accurate as possible, it pales when compared to owning a prepaid meter.

鈥淗ence, we are here with the MOJEC International Ltd. team who will be stationed here in Festac for two weeks and assist our dear customers in getting their meters installed within 72 hours of confirmation of payment.

鈥淭his is against the usual 10 working days under the MAP scheme.”

The Managing Director also advised customers against patronising unauthorised entities for meters as Eko Disco had 10 MAP vendors approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), including MOJEC.

Ms. Chantelle Abdul, Group Managing Director, MOJEC International Holdings, commended Eko DisCo for a great partnership in metering electricity consumers.

She promised that her team would ensure the fulfilment of the EKEDC Mobile MAP objectives, especially the metering of customers within 72 hours after payment.

Abdul emphasised to customers that MOJEC is against extortion by some meter installers, and encouraged them to report any installer that demands money for the installation of prepaid meters.

She advised customers against meter bypass which does not only affect the effort of EKEDC but also the entire electricity industry.

NERC has approved N63,061.32 as the cost of a Single Phase Meter while a Three Phase Meter costs N117,910.69, including Value Added Tax under the MAP scheme, report said.

Implemented in 2018 by NERC, the scheme brought about the supply and installation of prepaid meters by other parties authorised by the regulatory body.

Besides the expected aim of closing the metering gap, it was gathered the scheme is to ensure the development of independent and competitive meter service in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

It was, however, suspended following the introduction of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) by the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria October 2020.

The scheme was recently revived by NERC after the completion of the Phase Zero of the NMMP that saw Eko DisCo metering over 70,000 customers in its network.