Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies installed 357,495 meters in the first quarter of 2026, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said in its Q1 2026 report, describing the number as the highest quarterly deployment in five quarters.

NERC said the figure showed a continuing recovery in metering activity and attributed the increase largely to the federal government’s Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP).

The commission said DISREP, a programme supported by a $500 million World Bank facility that aims to deploy 3.2 million smart meters nationwide, accounted for more than one-third of meter installations in the quarter.

According to the report, the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed a combined total of 357,495 end-user meters in Q1 2026.

NERC said Benin and Abuja DisCos recorded the largest shares of deployments, accounting for 20.35 per cent and 14.08 per cent respectively.

The regulator said installations rose by 10.38 per cent from 323,864 in Q4 2025, and that eight DisCos recorded improvements during the period.

NERC said Kaduna DisCo recorded the highest increase, rising 119.53 per cent, while Kano, Enugu and Abuja DisCos recorded declines of 94.81 per cent, 89.48 per cent and 10.42 per cent respectively.

NERC said scheme-level deployment during the quarter was led by DISREP, which supplied 129,224 meters, representing 36.14 per cent of the total.

The commission said 118,681 meters (33.19 per cent) were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, 97,992 meters (27.41 per cent) through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), 10,589 meters (2.96 per cent) under DisCo-financed arrangements, and 1,009 meters (0.28 per cent) under vendor-financed frameworks.

The report said DISREP installations began in May 2025 and that cumulative DISREP deployments reached 217,784 meters by the end of Q1 2026. NERC said the quarter alone saw 129,224 meters installed under DISREP, a 29.81 per cent increase from the 99,545 meters deployed under the programme in Q4 2025.

NERC said the first quarter of 2026 recorded the highest quarterly meter deployment in the past five quarters, citing figures that show a steady recovery: 357,495 meters in Q1 2026, 323,864 in Q4 2025, 228,614 in Q3 2025, 225,631 in Q2 2025 and 187,161 in Q1 2025.

The commission said metering remains a primary reform priority for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry because it improves billing transparency, reduces commercial losses and strengthens revenue collection.

NERC said the MAP scheme permits approved private vendors to supply prepaid meters, while the MAF was introduced to accelerate deployment through central funding.

NERC warned that despite the progress, millions of electricity consumers remained unmetered and continue to receive estimated bills, and said further scaling of metering interventions will be required to close the gap.

[Source: Leadership.ng]

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