The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said on Tuesday that the electricity distribution companies (DisCos), installed a total of 185,439 meters in the fourth quarter of 2024.

NERC announced this in its 2024 Fourth Quarter Report, published on its website.

According to the report, this represents a marginal increase of 0.19 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2024, when 185,087 meters were installed.

The report noted that the new installations led to a 0.42 percentage point (PP) increase in the net end-user metering rate across all DisCos.

It said the number of installed meters rose from 46.15 per cent in the third quarter of the period under review to 46.57 per cent in the fourth quarter.

It noted, “During the quarter, 179,064 meters representing 96.56 per cent of the total installations were installed under the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) framework, while 4,076 meters were installed under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF). Also 1,924 meters were installed under the vendor-financed framework, while 374 meters were installed under the DisCo-financed framework.’’

NERC emphasised that the DisCos were expected to utilise available frameworks outlined in the 2021 Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations, along with the MAF, to bridge the existing metering gap.

According to the report, the commission certified 18 Meter Service Providers (MSPs), six meter installer companies, six manufacturers, three vendors and three importers in the quarter four of 2024.

It added that NERC also issued 15 permits for MAP in the period under review.

The report noted, “As a safeguard against customer exploitation due to lack of meters, the commission continues to enforce monthly energy caps for all feeders under each DisCo. This sets the maximum amount of energy that may be billed to an unmetered customer for the respective month. This is based on the gross energy received by the DisCo and consumption by metered customers on their respective feeders.”