The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has commenced a new phase of its mass metering project with the delivery of 222,728 meters valued at N10 billion to customers within its franchise.

It said the development was part of its determination to achieve 100% metering of its customers and engender public confidence in its billing process.

The company in a statement issued by its Manager, Media Relations, Ahmed Shekarau, on Thursday in Abujasaid the new phase, which was flagged offon Mondayis done in partnership with The Meron Consortium.

It disclosed that in the first phase of its mass metering project no fewer than 146,000 meters for its customers across its coverage area.

Also, the statement quoted the Managing Director of the company, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, to have said: “For customers, metering gives them the assurance of fair, transparent and accurate billing and also serves as a useful tool for managing consumption and costs.

“To AEDC, metering equips us with intelligent data to ascertain areas of energy/revenue leakages which will strengthen our commercial vigilance activities to plug such leakages and improve our revenue collections.”

Mupwaya further explained that metering represents one of the key areas of the Company’s strategic transformation programme geared towards aggressively reducing its average technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses and enhancing its capabilities for exceptional service delivery and growth.

Engr. Mupwaya also expressed his appreciation for the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) who were transaction advisers to AEDC and helped in running an open procurement process from which The Meron Consortium emerged as Preferred Bidders.

“We appreciate the opportunity AEDC has given us through a transparent and competitive process; we'll bring all our wealth of experience and expertise on board to ensure the success of this project because our goal is that ultimately, you (AEDC) will count on us as your preferred partner for all future metering projects,” the statement reads.

The consortium comprises of meter manufacturers, financiers, as well as the advisory services firms.