Imported User:
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC) has said it was set to begin investigations into the nation’s poor metering system.
Disclosing this in Abuja yesterday, Chairman of the Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, said a high powered committee, headed by human rights lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, has been set up to investigate the cause for poor electricity meters nationwide.
Amadi who was speaking on the sidelines of the US-Nigeria partnership on Regulatory Capacity Assessment between the Commission and the Michigan Public Service Commission, explained that the investigation would cover the 90’s to date.
“After decades of intervention by the federal government to have a reliable metering system for electricity in the country, only about 40 per cent coverage has been achieved.
We expected that by now, we should have achieved 90 per cent metering,” he stated.
He however, noted that some utilities like Eko and Ikeja Distribution companies were already doing better in metering. He also explained that a recent World Bank support in metering has helped the country boost its metering efficiency to about 40 per cent.
The NERC boss who expressed worry that the lack of proper metering was a major challenge to the realisation of a cost reflective tariff said: “If you have no proper metering, you cannot manage the industry, this is why we are setting up a credible committee to ask questions and report back to us so that we will control both the corruption in the metering process and inefficiency.”
While fielding questions from journalists, the director economic growth and environment, Sharon Pauling, said the agency was committed to support NERC to develop an alternative and clean energy in Nigeria.
Add new comment