Ikeja Electric and Eko Electric Distribution Company on Sunday said that they had installed 62,368 pre-paid meters after the privatisation of the PHCN.
The two distribution companies disclosed this in Lagos.
Mr Godwin Idemudia, the Head, Strategy Communications, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, said that about 44,300 meters had been installed by the company from Nov. 1, 2013 to date.
Idemudia said that the company had spent over N3.2 billion so far on meters procurement.
He said that the company had budgetted additional N1.8 billion to purchase about 41,000 single and three phase meters in the next three years.
Idemudia said that additional N3 billion had been set aside for purchase of 7,500 Maximum Demand (MD) meters for adequate metering in its area.
According to him, the company is investing about N5.8 billion on meters which are being installed, while about 400,000 meters will be installed by the company within the next three years.
“To tackle the metering challenges, a total of 7,500 maximum demand meters have been procured at a cost N2.8 billion, as well as 50,000 meters for the non-maximum demand customers.
“These meters, both the MD and non-MD, constitute only the first phase of our metering plan that will see all our close to 400,000 customers metered free of charge,” he said.
Idemudia said that the installation of the first phase meters had already begun, but it would not be possible to cover everyone at the same time.
He, however, assured that all subscribers would eventually be metered.
Idemudia said that large percentage of the meters were procured from local manufacturers “because of the company’s belief in contributing meaningfully to the local economy”.
Statistics also provided by Ikeja Electric showed that a total 18.068 meters had been installed by the company post privatisation.
According to Mr Pekun Adeyanju, Head, Strategy Communication at Ikeja Electric, about 13,236 smart meters have been installed.
He said that 4,832 Standard Transfer Specification (STS) meters had also been installed by the company at the cost of about 106 million dollars.
“Ikeja Electric has commenced the first phase of installation of about 300,000 smart meters in the zone.
“The meters, which were acquired at a cost of 106 million dollars (N21.2 billion) under its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), would assist in curtailing energy theft and put an end to estimated billing system.
According to Adeyanju, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Abiodun Ajifowobaje, had said the new metering initiative, known as “Smart Metering’’, would address some challenges associated with the billing system.
“The metering pilot project, which ended in August, has given the management an overview on customers who have electricity challenges or non-functional meters.
“The study conducted by the organisation showed that 300, 000 of the 600,000 customers in the zone did not have functional meters,’’ he said.
