TheCable

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission says it has given approval to 22 companies to take over the distribution and installation of prepaid meters.

According to a statement by Usman Abba-Arabi, NERC’s general manager, public affairs, ‘No Objection’ qualifies intending investors to participate in the meter procurement process in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

NERC introduced meter asset provider (MAP) on April 3, 2018, to new investors finance mass metering plan which is expected to reduce incidences of estimated billing to the barest minimum.

The MAP regulation mandates electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to engage meter assets providers who will fund the purchase, installation and replacement of meters to help meet DisCos’ metering obligations to their customers.

“This is to ensure that all electricity customers are metered thereby reducing incidences of estimated electricity billing to the barest minimum,” NERC said.

The commission said the 22 companies got approval after due diligence was conducted on the documents they provided in their applications.

It also said that more applicants are welcome as the exercise is continuous.

The approved firms are Huawei Technology Company Nigeria Ltd, Bilview Energy Ltd, Chintech Electro Nigeria Ltd, Holley Metering Ltd, MEMCOL, and Meron Nigeria Ltd.

Others are Integrated Power, MBH Power, Trimani Engineering, Sapropel Energy Resources, Megawatt Distribution International, and Unistar Hi-Tech Systems.

Imperial Infrastructure Development Company, Ratio Consulting, Protogy Global Services, Paktim Metering, Sabrud Consortium, Tinuten, Kayz Consortium, BTS Power, CIG Metering Assets, and Cresthill Energy also received approvals.