NBS: DisCos distributed 93,219 prepaid meters within three months

Nigerian electricity distribution companies (DisCos) distributed 93,219 prepaid meters between January and March, according to data from the power sector report of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report said the number of consumers with prepaid meters rose from 1,496,587 at the end of 2017 to 1,589,805 at the end of March 2018.

It showed that Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) issued 260,667 meters during the first quarter.

Abuja distribution company issued 282,868 meters, while Ibadan distribution company, the largest DisCo, followed by 254,261 prepaid meters to its customers.

Ikeja DisCo metered 157,797 consumers in its franchise area while Eko DisCo issued 158,157 prepaid meters.

In addition, Kaduna DisCo also issued 138,164 prepaid meters as at March 31, while Enugu DisCo had 116,623 of its consumers metered.

It said Port Harcourt DisCo distributed 66,507 meters to its customers; Kano DisCo followed with 63,037 while Jos Disco had 54,395 metered customers.

With 37,329 prepaid meters, Yola DisCo had the least distribution, according to the data.

The data also revealed that the power generation statistics at the end of march indicated that a total average of 92,747 megawatts per hour of energy was generated daily by power stations.

Also, daily energy generation attained a peak of 105,755MW on March 14, 2018.

Earlier in the year, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said the metering gap for electricity consumers in the country had increased to about 4.7 million.

In this regards, the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) regulation was introduced on April 3, 2018 with the aim of closing the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).