How much does it cost to have the Reliable Power Microgrid (RPM) installed?
We do not sell RPM, we sell electricity through RPMs. NFE will install an RPM in your community and charge you the electricity you use every month (post or prepaid).
How does a customer reload their NFE account?
Each customer can manage their online account via our web portal. They can pay their bill and monitor their energy usage or reload their account for prepaid accounts. Our meters are tokenless which means when you prepay for electricity, the token is automatically loaded. The system also sends you account updates via SMS.
I want my community to get a Reliable Power Microgrid, can you come install one?
We currently only take on projects for communities in Uganda with more than 20 active residents. If your community meets this threshold. Please email us on team(at)NearlyFreeEnergy(dot)com.
Are the Reliable Power Microgrids (RPMs) powered by solar or diesel generators?
You can think of RPMs are living products that continue evolve over time. Most of our customers start out with RPMs powered by generators and gradually transition to solar. The duration of the transition period varies depending on the electricity usage for the community served by the RPM.
What is the cost per unit (kWh) that you charge for electricity?
Rates vary slightly depending on the size of the community, their usage and the power sources (main grid vs diesiel generator vs solar). Most customers will pay the same domestic rate which is currently about 800 UGX/kWh. Smaller size customers may pay slightly more (900 – 1350 UGX/kWh) for periods when power is being drawn from more costly sources during a main grid outage.
Is it true that there’s 100% uptime when the community is running on a Reliable Power Microgrid?
That’s our goal, there may be an hour or two every few months where a customer may experience a planned outage for us to repair a faulty meter or other grid maintenance work but because the grid automatically switches over to another source when the main grid is experiencing an outage, our customers always have power.
Do I still call Umeme/UEDCL when I have issues with my electricity?
No, NFE will provide the support you need. You can reach our customer support team via Whatsapp or email. We typically have a support engineer based on site in your community so response times are usually quick.
What new equipment does NFE install in my community to enable the microgrid power back up?
The most important thing is that we upgrade your meter to a smart meter. We will also install a generator, batteries and or solar panels depending on the model that we think will be most cost effective for your community and for our business.
Here’s what a typical Reliable Power Microgrid set up looks like