Solvency through strategy: enthroning transparency in smart metering
Science and technology continue to transform our lives, from routine chores like using washing machine for laundry to complex processes as AI-assisted medical diagnostics that enhance healthcare outcomes. Their exponential
- By James F. Kolawole
Science and technology continue to transform our lives, from routine chores like using washing machine for laundry to complex processes as AI-assisted medical diagnostics that enhance healthcare outcomes. Their exponential advancements consistently deliver higher quality results.
This power of technology was evident in the rescue of an American navigator whose F-15E fighter jet was shot down over southwestern Iran in the Israel-U.S war with Iran. Reports describe the mission as one of the most complex operations in recent memory. While modern warfare often showcases sophisticated equipment for defence and destruction, this rescue highlighted how technology can be harnessed holistically - not only to wage war but also to save lives.
At the core of the rescue was a compact, 800-gram satellite-based lifesaving device, known as Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL), by Boeing. CSEL is a rugged survival communicator, resembling a military radio combined with a handheld computer
Built to withstand extreme forces in emergency ejection, it begins transmitting after it is activated. It sends location coordinates and short encrypted messages using rapid frequency-hopping signals, making detection by enemy electronic warfare systems difficult. It can also receive encrypted instructions without voice communication, ensuring secure and discreet guidance for the survivor in hostile environments.
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The system relies on military communication satellites to relay data from hostile territory to U.S. command centres and strategic bases. By enabling secured two-way communication, the device provides critical data to the survivor and the rescue team, leveraging a robust infrastructure purposely designed for survival missions.
The CSEL illustrates how a small, rugged device can determine survival in hostile territory. Juxtaposing this with Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which is grappling with survival and requires a rescue mission from collapse, reveals stark parallels. NESI’s challenges - high ATC&C losses, weak collections, inadequate metering, and unreliable data mirror the vulnerabilities of a downed pilot stranded without communication.
The CSEL’s strength lay in its ability to transmit accurate, encrypted signals under extreme conditions, ensuring both visibility and trust. These features made the survival and extraction of the downed pilot possible. For NESI, the equivalent would be a robust, transparent, and secure revenue assurance system: advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) coupled with reliable communication networks.
To bring about fiscal responsibility in NESI, a rugged, well-designed, and properly implemented rescue mission must be directed to secureb revenue assurance within the Distribution Companies (DisCos). Without this, solvency in the sector will remain elusive.
Federal and state governments should review and address challenges facing smart metering programmes –DISREP, PMI, MAF, and MAP, which were intended to strengthen revenue assurance.
Unlike the CSEL device, which created visibility and secure communication in hostile environments, these programmes fall short due to inefficient communication solutions and inadequate investment in supporting infrastructure.
Modern utilities deploy AMI not merely to bridge the metering gap, but to achieve full operational control, secure revenue assurance, and boost customer satisfaction. Smart metering must be understood as a mission to improve operational performance, create financial sustainability, and drive change management, not just an exercise in installing meters.
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The Federal Government’s settlement of accrued legacy debt to Generation Companies (GenCos) is laudable, as it provides temporary financial fluidity. However, such measures alone will not deliver long-term stability or restore investor confidence. At best, they enable GenCos to meet obligations, keep plants operational, and ease cash flow pressures on the value chain for a limited period.
Meanwhile, calls for tariff increases under MYTO framework, on the grounds that current tariffs are not cost-reflective, remain contentious. While higher tariffs may improve balance sheets in the short term, they do not stop the financial haemorrhage. Such a move risks exploiting customers, who would pay for operational inefficiencies. The real solution lies in plugging leakages and drastically reducing losses.
There must be a shift from the smart metering approach in NESI. Programmes like DISREP, PMI, MAF, and MAP have been treated as technical exercises to bridge the metering gap. But smart metering should be repositioned as a mission for financial sustainability and operational transformation.
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The paradigm shift should be like this: from gap-filling to revenue assurance; from fragmented programmes to integrated ami; from technical rollout to change management; from customer burden to customer satisfaction; from short-term fixes to financial sustainability.
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In essence, smart metering should be seen as the CSEL of NESI - a rugged, resilient rescue tool that provides visibility, secure communication, and survival in hostile conditions. Without this paradigm shift, tariff hikes and bailouts will only mask inefficiencies while the industry bleeds financially.
A lasting solution to be pursued must be one that halts the financial haemorrhage and tackles structural inefficiencies at the root. Only through systemic reforms and technology-driven interventions can NESI achieve sustainable stability and regain investor trust.
Crucially, greater investment must be directed toward communication infrastructure, ensuring that smart metering programmes deliver their full benefits. To achieve this, NESI - particularly the DisCos, must embrace robust and reliable two-way communication solutions purpose-built for utilities, such as the CSEL model.
• Kolawole is MD/CEO of Aquivis Technologies Limited
