The True Cost of Power in Nigeria Starts at the Changeover Switch

Why monitoring your changeover switch is the missing link in understanding energy spend.

In Nigeria, the real cost of electricity is rarely what appears on a grid bill. For most commercial and industrial organisations, energy is a complex blend of grid power, diesel generation, and increasingly solar. Yet many businesses still lack a single source of truth for how — and when — each source is used.

That visibility gap usually begins at the changeover switch.

A changeover switch (manual or automatic) determines whether your site is running on grid or generator. But without monitoring, it’s a black box – and black boxes are expensive.

The hidden cost of “unknown” energy

When organisations can’t see:

• how often generators are running,

• how long grid outages actually last,

• or which sites rely most heavily on diesel,

  
  

they can’t accurately calculate their true cost of energy.

This leads to:

• underestimating operational costs,

• poor budgeting and forecasting,

• and missed opportunities to reduce diesel reliance.

  
  

How enee.io unlocks total energy cost visibility

By monitoring the changeover switch, enee.io’s energy monitoring system automatically detects:

• when power switches between grid and generator,

• how long each source is active,

• and how much energy is consumed during each period.

  
  

From this, enee.io builds a complete energy cost profile:

• organisation-wide,

• per site,

• or even per asset.

  
  

Instead of guessing, energy managers can now answer: what does power really cost us, and where?

Why this matters in Nigeria

With volatile diesel prices, grid unreliability, and growing pressure to improve margins, Nigerian businesses can no longer afford “average” energy assumptions.

Changeover switch monitoring transforms energy from an uncontrollable overhead into a measurable, optimisable cost line — often delivering payback in under six months.