Electricity consumers owe the distribution companies up to ₦54bn for the power consumed in February this year, according to a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
In its Factsheet for February, NERC disclosed that the 12 Discos were able to recover ₦191.75bn out of the ₦245.93bn total billings. This represents 77.9 per cent collection efficiency and a 6.56 per cent increase compared to January 2025.
NERC also disclosed that 2,583.19 gigawatt-hours was the total energy received in February, while 2,137 GWh was the total energy billed. This represents a billing efficiency of 82.73 per cent and an increase of 1.81 per cent month-on-month.
Similarly, the allowed average tariff was ₦116.18 per kilowatt-hour, but the Discos were able to collect an average of ₦88.21 per kWh, being a 75.9 per cent recovery efficiency. It is 10.5 per cent higher than that of January.
The Factsheet showed that Aba Power has the highest allowed tariff of ₦200.88 per kWh, but its actual average collection for the month was ₦127.58/kWh.
The utility company had ₦6.44bn in total billings. However, it was able to collect ₦3.47bn, representing 53.90 per cent collection efficiency, the lowest for the month.
It was noted that Abuja Disco had the highest collection efficiency of 89.03 per cent, having recovered ₦31.7bn of the ₦35.67bn billed in February. Eko Disco followed Abuja with a collection efficiency of 88.76 per cent. EKEDC recovered ₦36.6bn of the ₦41.24bn billed.
Similarly, Enugu Disco had total billings of ₦17.95bn but collected ₦15.88bn from its customers, representing 88.47 per cent collection efficiency.
Ibadan Disco, operating in seven states, billed its customers ₦26.88bn and collected ₦19.28bn, which was 71.72 per cent. Ikeja had ₦41.18 billings but recovered ₦33.35bn from customers, having an 81 per cent collection rate.
The PUNCH reports that commercial losses and low recovery rates remain a major concern to investors in the power sector. The inability of the utility companies and the government to meter all customers has also been blamed for the low cost recovery.
With over seven million unmetered customers, there are usually disputes between a customer and the Disco over the actual cost of consumption, as estimated billings have failed to give customers the real cost of electricity consumed at a given time.
Recently, the regulator sanctioned eight Discos for overbilling their customers.
In an interview with our customers recently, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, said investors in mini-grids across the country were recouping their investments through tariffs as customers were metered to achieve over 95 per cent collection efficiency.
Credit: punchng.com
