Metering energy users across the country has been an issue, as the number of unmetered customers has increased to 7.3 million.
According to the most recent numbers given by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), electricity distribution companies, or DisCos, have been able to meter just 672,539 of the country’s 13.16 million registered customers.
This demonstrates the DisCos’ slow-paced metering operations, with a growing proportion of customers relying largely on the contentious estimated billing scheme.
The NERC’s 2023 Annual Report was released in Abuja on Monday.
As of December 31, 2023, only 5,842,726 (44.39%) of the 13,162,572 registered customers in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry were metered. DisCos deployed 672,539 end-use customer meters in 2023. A total of 25,847 meters were installed under the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP) framework, while 585,265 meters were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP). Furthermore, 6,912 meters were put using the Vendor Finance Metering framework, and 53 end-use customer meters were installed using the DisCo Financed framework.
This comes as industry experts have expressed concerns that the slow pace of metering may exacerbate billing disputes and customer unhappiness.
Meanwhile, electricity subsidy dropped to ₦151.30 billion during the year, indicating a 17.7 per cent decline from 2022.
The report read: “A Minimum Remittance Obligation (MRO) adjusted invoice of ₦858.03 billion was issued by Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading plc (NBET) and Market Operator (MO) for energy costs and administrative services to DisCos in 2023.
“The DisCos remitted a total of ₦706.73 billion, resulting in a deficit of ₦151.30 billion during the year. Based on the above, the gross DisCo remittance rate to the upstream segment for 2023 was 82.37 per cent.”
The federal government plans to provide ₦180.8 billion in electricity subsidies to subscribers in Bands ‘B’ to ‘E’, whose tariffs have been frozen since December 2022, according to sources from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NERC approved subsidy payments of ₦26.4 billion for Abuja customers, ₦23.76 billion for Ikeja Disco, ₦22.21 billion for Ibadan Disco, ₦19.92 billion for Eko Disco, and ₦14.87 billion for Benin Disco this month.
Enugu Distribution Company (Disco) is expected to earn N14.61 billion in September subsidies, while Port Harcourt Disco would receive N13.45 billion. Kaduna Disco would earn N13.14 billion, Kano Disco N12.96 billion, and Jos Disco N11.68 billion. Yola Disco is expected to receive N8.06 billion in this round of payouts.
“In line with the policy direction of the federal government on electricity subsidy, the allowed tariffs for Bands B-E customer categories shall remain frozen at the rates payable since December 2022 subject to further policy direction by the government,” NERC said.
NERC slapped ₦8.3 billion fines on 11 DisCos for overcharging customers. NERC has also urged Discos to pay affected customers for incorrect billing.
These developments are detailed in the September 2024 Supplementary Order of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) of 2024, which was announced yesterday in Abuja by the electricity sector regulator, chaired by Sanusi Garba.
