Managing Director/CEO of NEMSA and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, Peter Ewesor
The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) will routine test and certify at least 5.5 million meters to be installed for customers of the Distribution Companies (DisCos) under the Meter Assets Providers (MAPs) scheme between 2019 and 2022.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director/CEO of NEMSA & Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation, Engr. Peter O. Ewesor at a meeting held with DisCos and MAP contractors on “Managing Routine Testing of Electricity Meters under the MAP Scheme”, Wednesday, 18th of September 2019, in Abuja.
The meeting which was called by NEMSA, was to meet with all critical stakeholders to ensure that there is better understanding of the different roles of the players in the MAP scheme for seamless implementation of the scheme.
According to Ewesor, 10 of the DisCos so far have presented their metering expectation for the MAP scheme which began in May 2019. For the 10 Discos, it is expected that 5.545 million meters are deployed within the four-year period.
The breakdown shows that 1.064 meters will be installed by the end of 2019; and 2.674m will be added in 2020. For the Year 2021, the MAP companies will install 1.593m meters while 313,637 meters will be installed in 2022. The records show that Ikeja DisCo will install the highest number of 1.074m meters between the 2019 and 2022 period. Ibadan DisCo is next with 988,557 meters, and Abuja DisCo is the third with an 867,251 metering target.
The least of the meter target begins with Yola DisCo which has slated 400,000 meters. Kano DisCo has 475,000 meters and Jos has 500,000 target. For this year 2019, the breakdown indicates that 1,064,295 meters will be installed. Ibadan DisCo has set an ambitious 197,720 meter installations by December 2019; it is followed by Abuja DisCo with 170,000 units. Yola may install 169,000 while Ikeja will do 165,000 units; Jos plans 100,000 units, Enugu will install 85,000 meters while Benin will install 75,670 meters. The other targets for 2019, meter installation are: Kano DisCo (56,550), Eko (44,500), and Port Harcourt (38,824). Kaduna DisCo has yet to reveal it planned metering target under the ongoing MAP regime.
At the meeting, Abuja DisCo, said it had deployed 23,978 meters under MAP and raised concern NEMSA may not be able to cope with testing all meters as the volume rises. Responding, Engr. Ewesor said, NEMSA had prepared itself for the rising volume by decentralizing its meter testing activities with the operationalization of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt Meter Test Stations.
As they have not even utilized up to 20 percent of their capacity”. He also mentioned that the six million meters that are going to be deployed are not going to be deployed in one year. They are staggered between this year and 2022.
He advised the MAP companies and DisCos to take their meter testing to NEMSA stations in Kaduna and Port Harcourt instead of lumping them at the Oshodi test station. He also cautioned MAP against wrong meter installation that could shortchange either the DisCo and or the customer. “In some instance, a house will have a three phase meter and it is wired as single phase. That meter will not function well,” he said.
