The Gambia National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) Tuesday announced it will embark on a massive electricity meter upgrading system across the country next year, starting with the North Bank Region (NBR).
The Standard Transfer Specification Association (STSA), a company responsible for regulating electricity meters worldwide, has tasked utilities to upgrade their prepayment meters on or before November 24, 2024. The upgrading system will affect all STS prepayment meters. Addressing journalists on Tuesday, the Nawec managing director, Nani Juwara, said the upgrade system will come with zero cost to customers. Mr. Juwara noted as per the STSA directive, all customers must upgrade their prepayment meters. He said when the project is about to be rolled out, customers will be notified one month before their meters are upgraded in the Nawec system. Juwara said when a meter is elevated when the owner goes to buy cash power, they will receive two numbers before the token itself, which will make it three. “The person will be required to enter the first two tokens and then the energy token,” he said. He said the meter will automatically upgrade once the first two numbers are entered. He said customers must ensure that unused or previously purchased energy tokens are loaded into their meters before the expiry date of their one-month notice.
He advised all meter holders to be careful of individuals who may take advantage of the situation to defraud them. “People can use this kind of situation and start defrauding you and make it complicated that you need somebody’s, and you need to pay them to do it for you. You don’t need that. Pleased, whether is a Nawec or not, whoever comes to you and asks you for money to upgrade the system, know that the person is a fraudster and should be reported to the Nawec senior management,” he said. He said the upgrading process will come with zero cost to customers. The Program Manager Alhagie Jobe said the upgrading notice affected electricity providers worldwide. “We are not replacing the meters but simply upgrading them to meet the required standards,” he said.
Mr Jobe said the balance token will not be affected even when a meter is upgraded. He said the only tokens that would be affected would be those bought and not utilized before upgrading the meters. “But before we reset the meters for any region, we will give all the customers one month’s notice,” he said.
