In the last quarter (Q4) of 2018, total number of consumers using prepaid metres increased by 1.00% or 200,000 from 1.65 million customers in Q3 2018 to 1.67 million customers in Q4 2018.
These figures were released in a recent 'Power Sector Report' by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) on its website.
The report is a breakdown of "energy generated and sent out and consumed and load allocation."
According to the report, states with the most metred customers include Abuja (Abuja Disco), Edo (Benin Disco), Lagos (Eko Disco).
And Adamawa (Yola Disco) came in last with the least total number of customers metered.
Prepaid metres were introduced in 2006 by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to eradicate estimated billing of power users, and institute a more accurate and reliable digital method of computing power usage.
In April 2018, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reportedly approved 22 companies to become metre providers in Nigeria.
Suggested Read; NERC approves Huawei and 21 other companies to supply prepaid metres in Nigeria
Qualified candidates were chosen from a pool of interested applicants for the Metre Asset Provider (MAP).
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It has not been confirmed at press time if MAP is responsible for the increase in users of prepaid metre in Nigeria, but this is a very likely situation.
Ever since its introduction 13 years ago, collection and distribution of prepaid metres to consumers around Nigeria has been a major headache.
Hopefully, this trend is the beginning of the end for disappointments around prepaid meters for consumers.
