By Priscilla Phiri and Lumbani Chisi

Lilongwe, March 4, Mana: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM) has responded to growing concerns from customers regarding delays in meter upgrades, which have resulted in prolonged blackouts.

According to ESCOM’s Public Relations Officer, Peter Kanjere, the company is aware of the challenges and is working to provide solutions to affected customers.

“We are helping all concerned customers with solutions to the challenges,” he assured.

Kanjere attributed the delay to the supplier’s failure to deliver prepaid meters required for the Token Identifier Project.

However, he revealed that 98 percent of prepaid meters on the network have been upgraded, with plans to replace and roll over the remaining non-compliant meters once the next batch of replacement meters is delivered.

In the interim, ESCOM has converted single-phase prepaid meters to post-paid as a temporary solution to maintain supply while awaiting delivery of the requested meters.

The development comes amid complaints from customers who have experienced blackouts for up to three months while awaiting meter upgrades.

On ESCOM’s Facebook page, one customer pleaded, “We are experiencing blackouts, yet you promised us to upgrade our meters by end January 2025, do something please ESCOM.”

The Token Identifier Project, launched in June 2024, aimed to upgrade the software of prepaid electricity meters to comply with new international requirements.