By Miracle Ogunde
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, has directed all electricity distribution companies to publish the refunds they have made to customers who purchased meters under the Meter Asset Providers scheme.
The NERC announced this on its social media handles on Monday where it held the first Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry Stakeholders meeting in 2025.
The MAP framework provides for the provision and maintenance of end-use meters as a service by third-party investors based on which customers benefitting from such meters pay metering service charges.
NERC regulation states that “where a customer elects to make upfront payments for meters under these regulations, the cost of the meter shall be refunded through energy credits by the distribution licensee. The reimbursement schedule shall be as approved by the commission, having regard to an evaluation of the financial standing of the distribution licensee.”
However, consumer groups have complained that the Discos have not been consistent in refunding their customers who obtained meters under the MAP scheme.
For the sake of transparency and to encourage customers to take part in the scheme, the regulator directed that the details of the refund be made public on their websites.
“NERC has directed Discos to publish details of MAP refunds on their websites for transparency. This will demonstrate commitment and consistency to the scheme and encourage customers,“ the commission stated.
With over seven million unmetered customers, the Federal Government said it is making efforts to close the metering gap.
Recently, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, stated that the government is planning to meter all customers to reduce losses in the sector.
“The government is intervening in the short term by making sure that the registered customers within the Disco have meters because no matter what your tariff is, you need to make sure that you can collect and reduce your collection losses. And so, that’s one of the interventions. You’ve heard about the Presidential Metering Initiative, which looks to consolidate all the different metering initiatives that are funded by different entities.
“And so, we have the ability to know what your consumption is, what you can afford to pay, and make sure that we’re collecting the revenues from that and improving cash flow that way. It’s the first approach to making sure that DisCos have the financial capacity or cash flows that are required to drive investments in reliability and green access,” she stated.
The commission disclosed that it held its first NESI Stakeholders meeting of 2025 at its headquarters to discuss the state of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Topics discussed included the tariff methodology and impact of the state transition, NESI liquidity, financial evaluation of the market, and the transition to a multi-tier electricity market with regard to the state electricity regulatory commissions, among others.
“The quarterly meeting brings together energy stakeholders to discuss the state of the NESI and address critical issues in the sector,” the commission said.
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