By Salifu Faridat
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given the green light for an upward adjustment in the prices of prepaid electricity meters in Nigeria.
According to a circular dated September 5, 2023, signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Commissioner Legal, Licensing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, the price hike affects both single-phase and three-phase prepaid meters.
The new pricing structure now sets a single-phase prepaid meter at N81,975.16k, up from the previous N58,661.69k, while a three-phase prepaid meter is now priced at N143,836.10k, compared to the earlier N109,684.36k.
The rationale behind this price adjustment, as stated in the circular, is to establish a fair and reasonable pricing scheme for meters, benefiting both Meter Asset Providers (MAPs) and end-users.
It aims to enable MAPs to recover their costs related to meter procurement and maintenance while maintaining a viable return on investment.
The objective also includes evaluating the affordability of meter services for consumers and preventing excessive pricing that might burden end-users.
Additionally, it’s vital for electricity meter users worldwide, utilizing the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) software for vending, to upgrade their meters before November 24, 2024, to avoid service disruption.
What is STS?
The Standard Transfer Specification (STS) is a secure messaging system facilitating communication between point-of-sale systems and meters.
This system has been in use since 1993 and was designed to generate unique 20-digit electricity credit tokens for meter users.
However, a limitation arose as the 20-digit token could only accommodate a fixed number of minutes before becoming too lengthy.
The system allowed for a total of 224 minutes, starting from January 1, 1993, and reaching 24 minutes in November 2024. After this point, the system would cease to operate, marking the end of over 16 million minutes of usage.
Therefore, it’s imperative for all STS meters worldwide to undergo a necessary upgrade to continue accepting new credit tokens.
How to Upgrade Your Meter
In Nigeria, the Distribution Companies (DisCos) responsible for meter ownership and maintenance have stipulated that old tokens will no longer be valid from August 1.
Instead, customers will receive three different tokens, including two Key Change Tokens (KCT), which must be entered manually in the correct sequence to enable the meter to function beyond the rollover date.
Importantly, obtaining the KCT is free of charge and will not impact the current electricity tariff. Customers are advised to upgrade their prepaid meters by sequentially entering the two KCT tokens (KCT1 and KCT2) and then the energy token provided by their respective DisCos.
The meter upgrade process will not affect the credit unit balance on the meter, ensuring customers that their balance will remain intact. It’s worth noting that the meter upgrade is a one-time process, and subsequent energy token purchases will proceed as usual after the upgrade is completed.
This development marks significant changes in the pricing and operation of electricity meters in Nigeria, as well as the necessity for meter users worldwide to adapt to the evolving STS system.
