Nigerians will pay more for pre-paid meter going forward as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has announced an increase of 40 per cent in the price of pre-paid electricity meters nationwide.
The Regulatory Agency made this known in a circular jointly signed by the commission’s Chairman and Commissioner Legal, Licencing and compliance, Sanusi Garba and Dafe Akpeneye, which was dated September 5, 2023.
They revealed that a single phase pre-paid meter would now cost the sum of N81,975.16k from the previous N58,661.69k.
The price of a three-phase pre-paid meter according to them has risen to N143,836.10k from the initial N109,684.36k.
“The new price is meant to ensure a fair and reasonable pricing of meters to both MAPs and end-use customers,” the Agency said, adding that it is also to ensure the ability of Meter Asset Providers, MAPs, to recover reasonable costs associated with meter procurement and maintenance while ensuring that their pricing structure allows for a viable return on investment.
The top management staff of NERC further stated that the new price will help to evaluate the affordability of meter services for consumers, aiming to prevent excessive pricing that could burden end-users.
It is further help to ensure that MAPs are able to provide meters to end-use customers in the prevailing economic realities.
It will be recalled that NERC in August urged users of pre-paid meters to update such before November 2024.
The agency pointed out that users might face difficulties in recharging their pre-paid meters after November 2024 if the updates are not done before the deadline.
