- Power: Meter Shortfall Hits 5.3 Million
The latest metering statistics from the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency has put the metering gap in the power sector at 5,323,433.
NEMSA, in its 2018 metering statistics for Nigeria, said the total customer base in the sector stood at 8,914,601, while the number of metered customers was put 3,591,168 customers, leaving a shortfall of 5,323,433.
The agency urged customers to ensure that they use NEMSA tested and certified meters, as it noted that the quality and accuracy of any energy meter put into use without having being tested, certified fit for use and sealed by NEMSA could not be guaranteed.
Such a meter, according to NEMSA, will be classified as being deployed illegally and constituting a risk to lives and property.
The agency also noted in the document that any electrical installation planned, executed and put into use without NEMSA’s electrical inspectors’ test and certification/confirmation of fitness should be viewed as unsafe and illegal.
“The safety of such installation, the safety of lives and property cannot be guaranteed,” it added.
For the safety of lives and property in the power sector and other allied industries and workplaces, NEMSA plays the key role of enforcement of technical standards and regulations, technical inspection, testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations, electricity meters/instruments, electric concrete poles and certification of all electrical contractors.
Also, as part of its functions, NEMSA, as exclusively reported in Sunday PUNCH, revealed that a total of 695 new power projects and electrical installations could not scale through its testing and certification processes.
The report noted that between October 2017 and December 2018, NEMSA inspected and tested 2,690 new electrical installations and power projects along the power supply value chain and utilisation.
Out of this figure, 1,994 scaled through and were certified by the agency, while 695 electrical installations and power projects were not certified after the test by NEMSA.
NEMSA explained that the impact of the inspection and certification exercise was that it helped to improve the country’s network stability, reliability, safety and minimised the use of substandard materials and equipment in the sector.
