- The 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) recorded a shortfall of ₦273.42 billion in 2020
- IkejaDisCo recorded the highest revenue, ₦105.23 billion, while Yola received the lowest, ₦10.74 billion.
- NERC expects the National Mass Metering Programme to decrease the shortfall.
The 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) recorded a shortfall of ₦273.42 billion in 2020, receiving only ₦542.73 billion of ₦816.15 billion billed according to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) 2020 financial report. This represents an increase of ₦42.46 billion from the ₦230.96 billion recorded in 2019 and a collections efficiency of only 66.5 per cent. DisCos’ collections also increased by ₦55.49 billion from the ₦487.24 billion recorded in 2019. According to the report, IkejaDisCo recorded the highest revenue, ₦105.23 billion, while Yola received the lowest ₦10.74 billion during the period.
It is expected that as consumer metering increases under the National Mass Metering Programme, that the shortfall will reduce further. Although current metering still falls short of the targets set in the programme’s first phase – only Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Electric Plc had metered over 50% of their customers – NERC remains optimistic that recent developments such as the release of funds by the Central Bank will see increased metering.
The NERC disclosed that metering for customers had been a challenge so far, citing that only Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Electric Plc had metered over 50% of their customers.