AEDC Announces Plans To Begin Meter Upgrade for Customers, Non-Upgraded Meters To Stop Functioning Soon

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has announced plans to upgrade existing meters across its franchise area.

According to a notice posted to customers on its official Facebook page on Thursday, September 28, the move was necessitated by the need to meet with global metering standards and be in compliance with Nigeria’s Electricity Regulatory Commission's (NERC) directive.

The notice said that effective 24 September 2024, prepared meters that are not upgraded will no longer accept energy tokens. In other words, prepaid meters that are not updated will be unable to support the power supply.

Explaining further, the distribution company noted that the upgrade of existing meters comes at no extra cost and will not impact tariff bands, current units on the meter, or any other functionality of the meter.

AEDC promised to provide further information regarding the upgrade process and the role of customers in ensuring its success in the coming days.

According to clarifications given to customers in the comments section by the page handlers, this blog observed that the upgrade applies to both new and existing meters.

Founded in 1997, the AEDC is one of 11 power distribution companies that was privatized and handed over to new investors on 1 November 2013.

AEDC’s franchise area includes the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kogi, and, Nasarawa States, with a total land mass of 133,000 km2.

On 1 July 2020, the AEDC commenced the service-reflective tariff following persistent demands by customers to have a service-reflective tariff on the quality of electricity supply they enjoy.

For the purpose of executing this new regime, the AEDC introduced tariff bands A, B, C, D, and E for customers who enjoy electricity supply for a minimum of 20, 16, 12, 8, and less than 8 hours respectively.

Customers on "Band A" pay the highest tariff while those on "Band E" pay the least.

The upgraded prices for new meters are N88,123.30 for a single-phase meter and, N154,623.81 for a three-phase meter

It is unclear whether this meter upgrade will have any adverse effect on customers in terms of consumption of units.