The 11 Electricity Distribution companies (DisCos) in the country raked in the sum of N509.8 billion from bill payments by customers in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This is out of the N658.40 billion that was billed to customers within the period, indicating a collection efficiency of 77.44 per cent.
This was contained in a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
According to the report, in comparison, the total revenue collected by all DisCos in the third quarter was N466.6 billion out of the N626 billion billed to customers, which translated to a 74.55 per cent collection efficiency.
“The 77.44% collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q4 is +2.89pp higher than the collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q3 (74.55 per cent). Eko (90.00 per cent) and Ikeja (82.63 per cent) DisCos recorded the highest collection efficiencies in 2024/Q4.
“Conversely, Jos DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency at 49.68 per cent,” the report highlighted.
It further stated that a comparison of DisCos performance showed that eight DisCos recorded improvements in collection efficiency between 2024/Q3 and 2024/Q4, with Yola (+13.93pp) and Kano (+9.88pp) recording the greatest improvements. Conversely, the remaining three DisCos recorded declines in collection efficiency with Jos (-3.61pp) and Abuja (-3.39pp) DisCos having the most significant declines over the quarter.
It added that due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all DisCos, the federal government incurred a subsidy obligation of N471.6bn (56.65 percent of total NBET invoice) in 2024/Q4.
“Between 2024/Q3 and 2024/Q4, the subsidy obligation of the government increased by N7.5bn, from N464.1bn (54.71% of the total GenCo invoice) to N471.6bn (56.65 percent of the total GenCo invoice).”
The NERC attributed the increase in the subsidy obligation of the FGN to the FGN policy to freeze allowed tariffs paid by customers despite the increase in the cost-reflective tariffs across the quarters.
It said the average hourly generation on the grid in 2024/Q4 was 4,207.41MWh/h, which translates to a total generation of 9,289.95GWh.
“Both the hourly generation and the total generation decreased by -1.70% respectively in 2024/Q4 compared to 2024/Q3; the hourly generation decreased from 4,280.24MWh/h generated in 2024/Q3 to 4,207.41MWh/h (-72.83MWh/h), while the total generation decreased from 9,450.76GWh,” it noted.
