Nigeria’s electricity regulator has approved another N30 billion for free meters, in a fresh push to close the country’s metering gap and end the estimated billing that frustrates millions of households.
The third tranche
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved N30 billion for the third tranche of its Meter Acquisition Fund. All installations under this round must be completed by May 31, 2027, according to the regulator’s announcement.
The funding is the latest instalment in a programme that supplies meters to customers at no direct cost, with the aim of ending the practice of charging households based on estimates rather than actual consumption. Previous tranches have rolled out meters through the country’s distribution companies.
Why it matters
Metering is one of the most persistent complaints in Nigeria’s power sector. Millions of customers remain unmetered, leaving them exposed to disputed bills and leaving distribution companies short of revenue they need to invest in the network. The regulator’s fund is designed to break that cycle by paying for meters directly.
Part of a bigger energy push
The announcement came in the same week that Nigeria began procurement for a $2 billion East-West super grid, a separate infrastructure project aimed at strengthening the national transmission network. Together, the two moves underline how central power reform has become to the government’s economic agenda.
No figure was given for how many meters the N30 billion will buy, or which distribution companies will receive the largest allocations. Those details are expected to follow as the regulator publishes the tranche’s implementation plan. The fund is the regulator’s main tool for closing the metering gap, and the third tranche follows two earlier rounds. The regulator has not said how the N30 billion will be split between distribution companies, or how many meters each will receive. The May 31, 2027 deadline is the hard date in the announcement, and the regulator’s briefing presented the approval as one of the day’s practical consequences for electricity customers. For households still on estimated billing, the question now is not whether meters are coming, but when the installers reach their street.
Related reading: Nigeria Begins $2bn East-West Super Grid Procurement
