Escom’s prepaid meter rollout hits 99%

The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says its nationwide project to migrate postpaid electricity customers to prepaid metering has reached more than 99 percent.

ESCOM Public Relations Officer Pilirani Phiri said the Meter Migration Project had made significant progress, with completion rates nearing 100 percent in all regions.

He said: “The Meter Migration Project has made significant progress, with the migration of postpaid customers to prepaid metering now more than 99 percent complete across all regions, leaving a small backlog of complex and high consumption connections.”

Phiri said the Northern Region led the exercise at 99.9 percent, followed by the Central Region at 99.8 percent. The Southern and Eastern Regions stood at 99.7 percent.

He said only 344 postpaid low voltage meters remained to be migrated nationwide, most of them three phase.

The Central Region had the largest remaining share, with 101 meters. The Northern Region had 20 outstanding meters, comprising three single phase and 17 three phase.

Phiri said most of the remaining three phase postpaid meters were concentrated in Blantyre and Limbe, due to the concentration of factories in the areas.

He said: “The highest backlog of three phase postpaid meters is in Blantyre and Limbe, largely due to the concentration of factories in these areas.”

He said some remaining postpaid connections belonged to government institutions, including the Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service, which required additional coordination before migration.

Migration of maximum demand meters, used mainly by large industrial and commercial consumers, remains at an early stage.

Phiri said: “For maximum demand meters, there are 1,396 across the country, of which 109 have so far been migrated to prepaid metering.”