Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country have advised consumers to ensure that their prepaid meters are upgraded starting from August 1, 2023 to November 24, 2024 to avod a situation that wil compel them to purchase new meters.
Already, Lagos, Kaduna and Enugu
distribution companies have commenced sensitization on how prepaid meters users can successfully upgrade to certain value of standard by means of Token Identifier (TD) rollover.
Head, Non MD Metering, Kaduna Electricity, Engr. Umar Adamu, through a television broadcast on 17th Juy, described the development as a worldwide affair, warning that any Standard Transfer Specifications (STS) prepaid meter customer that failed to upgrade their meters will no longer have the meter activated for tariff billing effective from November 2024.
He said: “The implication is that the meter can never work and can never be used so it has stood as a loss. The cost of 3phase meters as of today is N118,000 while that of single phase
is N63,000”.
Adamu, therefore, called on customers to cooperate by approaching any nearest cash office for a TID rollover token, explaining that it’s given in the same way electricity token is purchased and is entered in the same manner, adding that the meter will automatically upgrade itself once it accepts the token.
Responding to fear about what may happen to the old token on the meter and the speed of the meter, Engr. Adamu said, “the meter will still be there untouched and the speed wil also stay permanent as before, no increase, no
decrease. It is only the meter programming system that will be upgraded to avoid the rollover repercussion”.
Speaking on the initiative, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) spokesperson and Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Donald Etim, said the company was still appraising the
implementation processes of the exercise and will communicate to its customers in due time.
In his remarks, Head, Metering and
Laboratory Services Department of the
Nigerian Electricity Management Service
Agency (NEMSA) Mr. Gideon Fatunmbi,
explained that the Token Identifier is a 24-bit field, contained in STS compliant tokens, that identifies the date and time of the token generation which is used to determine if a token has already been used in a payment meter.
According to him, the STS prepayment
meter TID rollover upgrade is a one-off process, and so subsequent energy token purchases wil be accepted by the meters.
Fatunmbi advised electricity customers to be vigilant and ensure that only meters that have been certified by NEMSA are installed at their premises.
In addition, NEMSA assured the public that it stands is to ensure that all electricity meters and instruments deployed in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) are of right standard, specification, safety, and quality to accurately measure and record electrical energy consumed and guarantee safety of lives and property.