The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday approved the increment of the prepaid electricity metres across the country.

NERC announced the hike via a circular on September 5 signed by its chairman and commissioner for legal, licensing and compliance, Sanusi Garba and Dafe Akpeneye, respectively.

For the new pricing, the cost for a single-phase prepaid metre was increased by N23,314 from the previous N58,661 to N81,975. Also, N34,152 was added to the price for three-phase prepaid metres, an increase from N109,684 to N143,836.

NERC claims the new pricing ensures fair and reasonable prices for both MAPs and end-users in the prevailing economic realities.

“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 investment,” the statement said.

It added, “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.”