In the initial quarter of 2023, the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) revealed that the federal government disbursed a total of N36 billion to subsidize electricity consumption.
This sum, equivalent to N12 billion per month, was directed towards the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), the entity responsible for collecting revenue on behalf of generation companies and the Transmission Company of Nigeria from the Distribution Companies (DisCos).
Amidst the operations, a noteworthy portion of N141.5 billion was transferred to the NBET from the N209.2 billion invoice issued to the DisCos. Notably, DisCos collectively amassed N247 billion in revenue during the first quarter, a figure that emerged from the N359.3 billion billed to customers.
Diving into the specifics, the Abuja Distribution Company (DisCo) settled a payment of N20 billion against its N32.8 billion invoice, while the Benin DisCo cleared N14.4 billion of its N17.8 billion charge.
The Eko Distribution Company remitted N19.4 billion from its N22.8 billion bill, and the Enugu DisCo paid N15.72 billion of its N20 billion due.
Among other contributions, the Ibadan DisCo paid N17.5 billion from its N24.5 billion invoice, the Ikeja DisCo submitted N29.6 billion against N35.9 billion, the Jos DisCo settled N7.8 billion from N8.8 billion, and the Kaduna DisCo paid N1.8 billion of its N15.3 billion invoice. Similarly, the Kano DisCo paid N6.1 billion from its N15 billion, the Port Harcourt DisCo contributed N8.5 billion against its N14.5 billion charge, and the Yola DisCo satisfied N899 million of the N1 billion bill.
NERC clarified that the government’s financial intervention was essential due to the lack of cost-reflective tariffs. In light of this, the government undertook to bridge the gap between cost-reflective and allowed tariffs by funding tariff shortfalls, which were then applied to the NBET invoices to be covered by DisCos.
In the first quarter of 2023, approximately 171,107 meters were installed. Among these installations, 5.80 percent were part of the NMMP scheme, 92.71 percent were conducted through the MAP intervention, while 1.47 percent and 0.02 percent were attributed to the Vendor Financed and DisCo Financed schemes, respectively.
In addition, NERC reported 85 incidents from licensees, leading to 33 incidents resulting in 16 injuries and 17 fatalities.
The causes of these incidents included unauthorized connections, unsafe conditions, wire snaps, vandalism, explosions, electrocutions, fires, vehicular collisions, and falls from heights.
The commission affirmed its commitment to investigating and taking necessary actions against licensees where required.
Furthermore, NERC disclosed that of the 249,683 complaints received by DisCos during the period, the most frequently reported issues were metering (47.66 percent), billing (22.72 percent), and service interruption (9.22 percent), accounting for over 79 percent of total complaints.
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