• DisCos record N139bn loss
• Benin, Togo owe Nigeria $8.84m for electricity supplied in Q4
• Metering crisis continues despite government intervention
Nigerians spent a total of N509.84 billion on electricity in the last quarter of 2024, a sharp modest increase from N466.69 billion spent in the third quarter, data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) stated.
Despite the improvement in revenue, distribution companies still recorded a combined loss of N139.08 billion due to inefficiencies in billing and revenue collection.
According to NERC’s fourth quarter 2024 report, the sector billed customers a total of N658.40 billion, an increase from the N626.02 billion billed in the third quarter.
Amidst the domestic power crisis, the report revealed that the Benin Republic and Togo owed Nigeria a total of $8.84 million for electricity supplied to the county in the last quarter.
According to the report, six international bilateral customers, supplied by Nigerian power generation companies (GenCos), collectively paid $5.21 million out of $14.05 million invoiced for Q4 2024, bringing the performance to 37.08 per cent.
The amount collected by DisCos rose from N466.69 billion in the third quarter to N509.84 billion in the fourth quarter, pushing the national collection efficiency to 77.44 per cent, up from 74.55 per cent in the previous quarter.
Eko DisCo emerged as the top performer with a collection efficiency of 90 per cent, having collected N96.58 billion out of N107.31 billion billed. Ikeja DisCo followed with 82.63 per cent efficiency, collecting N101.92 billion from N123.35 billion billed. Benin, Enugu and Port Harcourt DisCos also recorded over 75 per cent efficiency, indicating strong collection performance.
However, several DisCos continued to struggle with revenue recovery. Jos DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency at 49.68 per cent, collecting only N14.25 billion out of N28.67 billion billed. Kaduna and Kano DisCos also performed poorly, with efficiency levels of 55.52 per cent and 56.91 per cent, respectively.
Despite these challenges, Yola DisCo improved its collection efficiency from 49.31 per cent in Q3 to 63.24 per cent in Q4.
NERC noted that the aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) loss for all DisCos stood at 35.22 per cent in the period, translating to a revenue loss of N139.08 billion.
While this was an improvement from the 39.1 per cent loss recorded in the third quarter, it remains significantly higher than the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) target of 24.78 per cent.
Kaduna DisCo recorded the worst performance in this category, with an ATC&C loss of 60.65 per cent against a target of 25 per cent.
Despite moves by the Federal Government and NERC to fund metering, the report shows that as of 31st December 2024, only 6.2 million customers (46.57 per cent) out of the 13.5 million registered consumers had been metered.
During the period, a total of 185,439 meters were installed, representing a marginal increase of 0.19 per cent compared to Q3.
Ikeja, Ibadan, and Benin DisCos recorded the highest number of meter installations, accounting for 28.81 per cent, 20 per cent and 12.62 per cent of total installations, respectively.
Most of the meters installed (96.56 per cent) were under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, while a smaller fraction was installed under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), Vendor Financed and DisCo Financed frameworks.
Ikeja DisCo led in MAP installations with 53,431 meters, followed by Ibadan with 37,089 and Benin with 23,397.
NERC noted that the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N1.25 million against the invoiced N1.98 million they received for services rendered in the quarter, translating to 63.36 per cent remittance performance.
Some customers, including Paras-CEET, Paras-SBEE and Transcorp-SBEE made partial payments towards outstanding debts from previous quarters, totaling $2.98 million.