Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) generated N199.90 billion in combined revenue for the first quarter of 2022, the quarterly report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said.
The document released by the regulator on Thursday said a total of N199.90 billion was collected by all DisCos in the first quarter of 2022 out of the N295.69 billion billed to customers.
This translates to a collection efficiency of 67.36 per cent, which represents a 1.98 percentage point reduction compared to Q4 2021 when the average collection efficiency was 69.34 per cent.
In monetary terms, the report said although the billing in Q1 2022 reduced by N7.41 billion (-2.44 per cent), revenue collections reduced at a higher rate of 5.22 per cent at N10.98 billion.
The regulator said it is imperative for DisCos to employ technologies and operational procedures to increase both their billing and collection performances to forestall long-term financial challenges.
“These could include holistic energy accounting procedures, customer and infrastructure metering etc,” it said.
Remittances
On market remittance, the regulator said the combined invoices from the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and the Market Operator (MO) to Discos in Q1 2022 was N205.63 billion.
It said the invoices were split into generation costs (N164.86 billion), and transmission/administrative services (N40.77 billion).
It said out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of N135.69 billion. But with an outstanding balance of N69.94 billion, this corresponds to a remittance performance of 65.99 per cent during the quarter.
The report said that poor remittance is a direct consequence of the DisCos recording higher than allowed Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) performance.
Also, the report noted that there were 26 grid-connected power stations in Q1 2022 consisting of 19 gas, four hydro, two steam, and one gas/steam-powered plants.
It said the plants’ average available generation capacity during the quarter was 4,712.34MW representing a 13.78 per cent decrease (-753.38MW) compared to 5,465.72MW recorded in 2021/Q4.
“The total energy received by all DisCos in 2022/Q1 was 7,300.05GWh while the power billed to the end-use customers was 5,649.21GWh indicating an average billing efficiency of 77.38 per cent.
“This billing efficiency is an increment of +1.02 pp from the 76.56 per cent recorded in 2021/Q4,” it said.
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