THE Federal Government has announced plans to deploy seven million smart meters through its Presidential Metering Initiative, aiming to eliminate estimated billing and reduce revenue leakages.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday.
Speaking on the second anniversary of Tinubu’s administration, Verheijen stated that the smart meters would end collection losses for most on-grid customers who are currently unmetered.
She explained that the meter deployment is part of the administration’s efforts to improve the commercial value chain of gas-to-power.
“There are several interventions underway to enhance the commercial viability of the gas-to-power value chain.
“We are developing policies and frameworks to transition to a system that allows us to charge the true cost of delivering electricity, and more importantly, to drive efficiencies in determining that cost,” she said.
The Special Adviser also revealed that the government is working to clear its legacy debt, which accumulated due to an inability to fund electricity subsidies and the distribution companies (Discos) underperformance in revenue collection.
“We plan to clear the legacy debt with a combination of cash and promissory notes to ensure that generation companies and gas suppliers are paid.
“In addition, we are improving revenue assurance by ensuring that most customers on the grid are metered.
“With this, we can end estimated billing and reduce collection losses so that customers who receive electricity are paying customers,” she added.
In exchange for resolving the legacy debts, Verheijen said the government would require all stakeholders and investors across the value chain to enhance their performance and invest more capital to expand on-grid access.
She stressed that the administration is committed to improving the governance of the Discos, which serves as the cash engine of the entire value chain.
“Through existing regulatory frameworks, the government will ensure that Discos have the financial and technical capacity to deliver more reliable power to Nigerian homes and businesses,” she concluded.