- Only approximately 5 million users have been metered out of over 12 million registered customers.
- ATC&C losses increased in the first quarter of 2023, indicating a decline in DisCos financial performance.
In the 2023 first quarter report recently released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), only 5,360,434 electricity user customers have been metered out of the 12,378,243 registered customers as of 31st March 2023, implying that 7,017,809 electricity customers remain on estimated billing. However, of the 5,360,434 metered customers, only 171,107 were metered in the first quarter of 2023, representing a slight increase compared to the 164,621 customers recorded in 2022 fourth quarter.
The report indicated that about 9,924 out of the 171,107 metered customers were metered under the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP), the highest recorded. On the other hand, 2,515 and 34 were metered under the Vendor Financed and DisCo Financed schemes, respectively.
On Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses, the data showed an increase in ATC&C losses in the period under review. The report further showed that the ATC&C losses for the first quarter of 2023 increased by 2.24 percentage points from the 44.15 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022. This means that, on average, the financial performance of the DisCos (Distribution Companies) declined between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023.
“The ATC&C loss in 2023/Q1 was 46.39% composed of 22.03% technical and commercial losses, and 31.25% in collection loss. This level of ATC&C loss implies that over the course of 2023/Q1, on average, as much as ₦46.40 in every ₦100.00 worth of energy received by a DisCo was unrecovered due to a combination of inefficient distribution networks, energy theft, low revenue collection and unwillingness of customers to pay their bills,” the report revealed.