Discos partner local manufacturers to deploy electricity meters

Power distribution companies are beginning to increase their partnerships with indigenous manufacturers of electricity meters in order to

cut down the number of unmetered consumers across the country.

This was confirmed on Friday by the Managing Director of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, and the Chief Executive Officer, MOJEC Meter Company, Mrs. Mojisola Abdul, during the signing of a contract by the two firms in Abuja.

On June 17 this year, the electricity distributors vowed to put an end to the regime of estimated bills being served power consumers across the country.

Reiterating the vow, Mupwaya stated that the decision by the Discos to enter into various partnerships with local meter manufacturers was in order to ensure that their metering targets captured in the Performance Agreements they had with the Bureau of Public Enterprises were followed through.

He also noted that metering would bring about transparency to the power billing process, thereby increasing customer confidence and willingness to pay for the electricity consumed.

In a bid to meet the metering target, Mupwaya stated that the AEDC had invested $2m and N3.6bn in the scheme, adding that the N2.4bn contract that was signed with MOJEC was for the supply of additional 60,000 meters to complement the 30,000 that were earlier procured.

Mupwaya said, “By signing this contract for the procurement of 60,000 meters with MOJEC, which is a local company, AEDC Plc would have made provision for 90,000 meters for 2017, as procurement of 30,000 has already been concluded for supply.

“This will be concluded before the end of 2017 and it is in line with our yearly target of 120,000 meters. The meters will be deployed in areas where we have carried out enumeration. Before now, 88,000 meters had been installed.”

In her address, the MOJEC boss stated that it was encouraging to see recent improvements in the partnerships between local meter manufacturers and power distribution companies.

Abdul noted that her company was into different partnerships with the likes of the Jos, Eko and Ibadan Discos, amongst others, and noted that this was not the case some months ago.

Indigenous meter manufacturers had in the past complained about the negligence of the Discos with respect to purchasing meters produced in Nigeria, a development that attracted the attention of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, BabatundeFashola, who encouraged the power firms to patronise the producers.