By Adadareporters
There has been an upward increase in the prices of pre-paid electricity metres, according to a circular issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The circular, signed by the commission’s chairman and commissioner legal, licencing and compliance, Mr Sanusi Garba and Mr Dafe Akpeneye, respectively, indicated that a single-phase prepaid metre costs N81,975.16k from its former price of N58,661.69k while three-phase prepaid metre increased to N143,836.10k from N109,684.36k.
The circular, dated 5 September 2023, said the hike was to ensure a fair and reasonable pricing of metres to both MAPs and end-use customers.
According to the circular, the increase is to: “Ensure MAP’s ability to recover reasonable costs associated with metre procurement and maintenance while ensuring that their pricing structure allows for a viable return on investments.
“Evaluate the affordability of metre services for consumers, aiming to prevent excessive pricing that could burden end-users; ensure that MAPs are able to provide metres to end-use customers in the prevailing economic realities.”
It would be recalled that on 22nd June this year, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) stated that there would be an upward review of the electricity tariff effective July 2023.
The company said the tariff increase was influenced by the fluctuating exchange rates.
