Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in Nigeria have announced new prices for electricity meters, effective from Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
The price changes, which vary across the different DisCos, follow a deregulation move by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) earlier this year.
In April 2024, NERC deregulated the price of meters, allowing DisCos and meter vendors to set prices based on market conditions.
This shift was intended to enable producers to recover their investment costs while ensuring a steady supply of meters. The change also allows for competitive bidding in the sector, rather than a centrally regulated pricing system.
As part of the new pricing structure, the cost of a single-phase meter has increased, with prices rising from around N117,000 to as much as N149,800, depending on the DisCo and the chosen meter vendor. In the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko DisCo), the price of a single-phase meter has jumped from N135,987.5 to N161,035, while the cost of a three-phase meter has risen from N226,600 to N266,600.
The price increase reflects economic factors such as inflation and rising costs of production, but it has drawn mixed reactions from consumers, with some expressing concerns over the affordability of meters in the wake of the deregulation.