Prepaid Meter in Nigeria: The Story so Far and the Way Forward P. E. Orukpe 1,a and F. O. Agbontaen 2,b 1,2 Department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria a patience.orukpe@uniben.edu (corresponding author), b agbontaenfestus@yahoo.com Keywords: Electric power, pre-paid meter, smart metering, energy saving Abstract. The prepaid meter was introduced in Nigeria to aid revenue collection and generation by Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in 2006 as well as abolished meter reading and estimated billing. Since its introduction there are still some challenges being faced by consumers and the power network operator. In this paper, we examined the Nigeria power sector, prepayment meter, advantages and disadvantages of the prepaid meter and smart meter in Nigeria. Finally, we make some recommendations. Introduction The Nigeria electric power network operator, PHCN has over the years been faced with the problem of revenue collection [1].This is mostly because electricity bills are sent to consumers after it has been consumed. Consumers are reluctant to pay electricity bills due to estimated bills and unreliable power supply estimated as 0.79 [2]. Thus in 2006 PHCN introduced the prepaid meter. The main aim of its introduction was to generate revenue, since the post-paid consumers evade paying the estimated bills sent to them. Also, the private bodies hired by PHCN to help collect bills from consumers did not yield the required result. In [3], the authors considered the impact of prepaid meter on revenue generation. It was found that the pre-paid bill was far lesser than the post-paid bill for a period of thirteen months and this was as a result of unreliability of the system or irregular supply of electricity. They concluded that pre-paid meter increases revenue collection and not generation as it is reliability based. PHCN promised that the consumers on the other hand, will no longer get estimated billing, no meter reading and no disconnection for non-payment of electricity. However, they did not look at the issues faced by the consumers. In this paper, we will look at smart meters and how it can be of benefit to our system. Also the advantages and disadvantages of the pre- paid meters will be examined. Nigeria Power Sector Electricity is essential for economic growth, national development and improved standard of living. Despite the abundance of energy resources in Nigeria, the country is in short supply of electrical power. The power sector in Nigeria is monopolized by PHCN, one service provider. Thus, we need to restructure, privatize our power system and deregulate our market. The present monopoly being enjoyed by PHCN will be broken when the system is restructured. The current charges in Nigeria are welfare driven not profit driven. The main aim of deregulation in Nigeria is to ensure reliability as opposed to developed nations that deregulate for charge reduction [2]. The goal of restructuring is to reduce energy charges and give one power of choice. The size of the system will not be a determining factor in generation (combined cycle unit), locally installed renewable energy sources such as wind turbine, fuel cell units or photovoltaic system will be used for distribution and superconductors for massive transmission. The government will need to invest in new electric power transmission or future technologies, serious research and development and will also need to upgrade the grid. The power system will need to be privatized; this will enable more companies to be involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Nigeria. In order words, Independent Power Producers (IPP) should be encouraged and the power generated from the National Integrated Advanced Materials Research Vol. 824 (2013) pp 114-119 © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.824.114 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, www.ttp.net. (ID: 197.210.248.71-18/09/13,23:41:25)