The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Friday said 62.67 per cent of electricity consumers in the country were still on estimated billing as at September 2021.

NERC made this known in its Key Operational and Financial Data of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) for Jan. 2019 to Sept. 2021.

The regulatory agency noted that the huge metering gap for end-use customers was still a key challenge in the industry.

“The records of the commission indicate that of the 12,784,685 registered energy customers as at September  2021, only 4,772,906 (37.33 per cent) have been metered.

“Thus, 62.67 per cent of the registered electricity customers are still on estimated billing which has contributed to customer apathy toward payment of electricity bills,” the commission said.

According to NERC, the metering status of the DisCos as at Sept. 2021 is: Benin DisCo, 36.75 per cent; Abuja, 45 per cent; Eko, 57.33 per cent; Ikeja, 58.56 per cent and Enugu, 23.24 per cent.

Others are: Port Harcourt, 30.56 per cent; Ibadan, 35.27 per cent; Jos, 37.74 per cent; Kaduna, 38.48 per cent; Kano, 30.19 per cent; and Yola, 16.03 per cent.

NERC noted that the number of metered customers as at Dec. 2020 was 4,053,403.

It said this meant that there was a significant improvement in metering as the 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) were able to add 719,503 meters to their customers within the period.

NERC attributed the increase in roll-out of meters to the concurrent operation of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) of the Federal Government and the Meter Assets Providers (MAP) scheme.

It said: “The commission has commenced the review of MAP regulations to allow a smooth implementation of NMMP schemes.

“This is to ensure that the full benefits of both schemes are obtained to close the metering gap in the NESI on time.”