The Managing Director of APL Electricity Distribution Company (Aba Power), Ugo Opiegbe, has confirmed that the company’s ongoing mass metering initiative is on track to provide free smart meters to at least 100,000 households within the Aba ring-fenced area by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025.
The large-scale rollout, which commenced in May, is valued at an estimated ₦33 billion and is being executed in collaboration with four local meter manufacturing companies.
The programme targets nine out of Abia State’s seventeen Local Government Areas, all within the dedicated Aba Power service zone.
In a statement made available via e-mail, Opiegbe described the project as a “win-win for both the company and its customers, all critical business metrics considered.”
He explained that the deployment of free smart meters has significantly improved transparency and strengthened customer trust.
“More and more customers are coming daily to all our physical offices and online platforms from morning to night to express satisfaction and to pay their bills with greater enthusiasm,” Opiegbe said.
He noted that the shift away from estimated billing has removed a longstanding source of dispute between the Disco and its customers. “Customers are happy because they are getting value for their money and have been freed from the entanglements of estimated billings,” he said.
Opiegbe emphasised that the project has demonstrated the commercial benefits of integrity and openness in utility management. “Customers always pay when it’s self-evident that what they are billed is what they have consumed. Transparency and integrity have no replacements either in personal or business relationships,” he added.
While the company did not disclose the precise revenue impact, a source within Aba Power who asked not to be named estimated that the utility has seen revenue improvements of up to 15% since the free smart meter rollout began.
The source highlighted that the rise in revenue is matched by growing customer goodwill despite broader economic challenges.
“What is so important is not so much the increase in revenue as the satisfaction on the faces of customers. People come on their own to pay their monthly bills and commend us for the speed at which the meters are given out free of charge and installed daily,” the manager said.
The metering project is part of Aba Power’s broader strategy to deepen operational efficiency and customer engagement in a region historically underserved by reliable power infrastructure.
Industry analysts say the initiative could serve as a model for other DisCos looking to rebuild trust and improve collections in Nigeria’s evolving power sector.
