5 days ago
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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Tough times lie ahead for electricity consumers involved in any form of theft, including unauthorised access, meter tampering and bypassing.
This is because the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), in an amended Order No:NERC/2024/148 released yesterday, rolled out fresh sanctions to penalise energy thieves.
The latest order replaces the earlier one issued on December 6, 2017.
The regulator explained that NERC is required by section 34 (1) (b) of the Electricity Act 2023 (“EA”or “Act”) to maximise access to electricity services, by promoting and facilitating customer connection to distribution systems in both rural and urban areas.
“The Commission has noted with concern and received complaints from DisCos on the increase in incidents of unauthorised access to electricity and meter bypass by customers,”.
The amended order, according to NERC “aligns with the Electricity Act 2023 and the Customer Protection Regulations (CPR) 2023, which allows Distribution Companies (DisCos) to disconnect unauthorised connections without notice and prescribe reconnection conditions.”
For the objectives, the electricity industry regulator maintained that the order aims to achieve two things.
The first, according to NERC is to “reduce unauthorised access to electricity, meter tampering, and by-pass; and to establish transparent reconnection guidelines to ensure compliance.”
The regulator also proffered three key provisions on reconnection conditions and charges; administrative charges and compensation for delayed reconnection.
The amended order on unauthorised access, meter tampering, and by-pass replaces has taken effect from 22 January 2025.
“This amendment aligns with the Electricity Act 2023 and the Customer Protection Regulations (CPR) 2023, which allow Distribution Companies (DisCos) to disconnect unauthorised connections without notice and prescribe reconnection coconditions,”.
On penalties for energy theft, the order stated that customers who by-pass meters or gain unauthorised access must pay administrative charges (including meter replacement costs) and reconnection costs.
Any customer that gains unauthorised access to electricity through tampering or meter by-pass will be reconnected upon payment of the administrative charges including meter replacement cost which shall not exceed the sum outlined below.
“Non-MD Single Phase (Residential) with first Offense will pay N100,000 while he/she will pay N150,000 for subsequent Offense.
Non-MD Three Phase (Residential) customers will pay N200k for the first Offense and pay N300k for subsequent Offense.
Maximum Demand (MD) customers will pay a fine of 450% of last recorded consumption for the first Offense and 600% of last recorded consumption for a subsequent Offense.
To be reconnected, the Non-MD customer will pay N10,000 while the MD customers will part with 50,000 to be reconnected.
If DisCos fail to reconnect a customer within 48 hours after payment, they must compensate with 100 per cent of daily energy consumption in energy credit.
Customers guilty of unauthorised access must pay for the loss of revenue through back-billing at the prevailing tariff.”.
The order added that Discos shall identify areas suspected of unauthorised access based on anomalies in consumption patterns, irregularities in billing, or other suspicious indicators.
Discos shall conduct a comprehensive analysis of electricity consumption data, billing records, and other relevant information to detect any discrepancies or abnormalities indicating potential unauthorised access.
“DisCos hall employ surveillance techniques to monitor suspicious activities or behaviours in suspected areas, gathering additional evidence as necessary. Physically inspect and examine meters in suspected areas for signs of tampering, illegal connections, or unauthorized modifications. Conduct integrity tests on suspected meters, capturing evidence of tampering through video and photographic documentation in the presence of the customer or their representative.”
English (US) ·