Electricity is a basic necessity for many Nigerians, but it comes at a high cost. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), power consumers paid a total of N267.86 billion as electricity bills in the second quarter of 2023, despite the economic hardship.
The NERC revealed this in its second quarter 2023 report, which also showed the collection efficiency of power distribution companies (Discos) during the period. The report stated that the Discos collected 75.54 per cent of the bills they issued to customers, which amounted to N354.61 billion. This was an improvement from the 68.75 per cent collection efficiency recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
The NERC attributed the increase in collection efficiency to the increased metering by Discos and the implementation of various collection campaigns for improved remittance by post-paid customers. The report also noted that the Discos remitted 95.21 per cent of their upstream invoices payable to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and the market operator (MO) for generation, transmission and administrative services.
However, not all customers paid their bills on time. The report stated that out of the four international customers serviced by the MO, only Transcorp-SBEE made a payment of $1.43 million against an invoice of $2.13 million issued for services rendered in the second quarter of 2023.
The NERC report highlighted the challenges faced by the power sector in Nigeria, such as inadequate gas supply, transmission constraints, vandalism, metering gap, liquidity shortfall and regulatory uncertainty. The report also outlined the measures taken by the NERC to address these issues, such as tariff review, performance improvement plans, service-based tariff, metering intervention and regulatory oversight.
The report concluded that the power sector in Nigeria still has a long way to go to achieve its full potential and provide reliable and affordable electricity to all Nigerians. It urged all stakeholders to work together to overcome the obstacles and improve the quality of service delivery in the sector.
