The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in a letter dated Thursday, November 11, 2021, sent the approval for a single-phase meter to sell for N58,661.69 from N44,896.17 and a three-phase meter to sell for N109,684.36 from the N82,855.19.
The government said it has finished Phase zero of the federal government’s National Mass Metering Program (NMMP)’s 1 million free meters and set to start Phase 1, along with the existing Meter Assets Provider (MAP) that allows consumers to pay for meters.
Engr. Ahmed Rufai Zakari, the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, said the new meter prices will not affect the free NMMP meters the federal government is distributing through the DisCos.
Zakari said “Meters are free under the National Mass Metering Program. This change in price does not impact a consumer that obtains a meter under NMMP,”
“The regulation is clear. Even if one decides to pay there is a refund process. I estimate up to 90% of meters in the market will go through NMMP in the near term so this is not an issue either way.”
Commenting on this development, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, mentioned that the price hike may be reflecting the intense inflationary pressure.
He said, “There is also the exchange rate effect because the import content is quite high.”
Yusuf while calling for a stable economy, said, “The challenge is not just with meters; it is an economy-wide problem. The higher the import content in any sector or product, the higher the inflation risk.”
