According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Nigerian government paid N36 billion to subsidize electricity consumption in the first quarter of 2023.
NERC said in its quarterly report that the money amounted to the payment of N12 billion monthly paid to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET).
DisCos send FG various sums as revenue.
According to analysis, Benin DisCo paid N14.4 billion from its N17.8 billion invoice, Eko DisCo paid N19.4 billion from the N22.8 billion invoice, and Enugu DisCo paid N15.72 billion from its N20 billion. Abuja DisCo paid N20 billion out of the N32.8 billion invoice it got.
Ikeja DisCo paid N29.6 billion from the N35.9 billion invoice it received, Jos DisCo paid N1.8 billion from its N15.3 billion, while Kano DisCo paid N6.1 billion from its N15 billion. Ibadan DisCo paid N17.5 billion of its N24.5 billion payment.
Additionally, Yola DisCo paid N899 million of its N1 billion payment, and Port Harcourt DisCo paid N8.5 billion of their N14.5 billion.
Electricity is subsidized by FG to make up for revenue deficiencies.
The regulatory body said that the government’s assistance is necessary since the government does not impose cost-reflective tariffs to address the financial gap caused by the consequent tariff shortfall. The DisCOs’ payment of NBET invoices is covered by the grant.
Out of the 171,107 meters installed in Q1 of 2023, NERC reported that 5.80% were metered under the NMMP scheme, 92.71% of consumers were metered through the MAP intervention, and 1.47% and 0.02%, respectively, were metered through the Vendor Financed and DisCo Financed schemes.
In addition, the NERC report stated that it received 85 licensee reports, of which 33 events led to 16 injuries and 17 fatalities.
According to the research, the occurrences were caused by unauthorized or illegal connections, dangerous surroundings, a snapped wire, vandalism, an explosion, a fire that broke out, a vehicle collision, and a fall from a height.
NERC said
The commission has started looking into all reported occurrences, and when necessary, it will take appropriate action against licensees.Metering (47.66%), billing (22.72%), and service interruption (9.22%) were the three most often reported problems among the 249,683 complaints DisCos received over the time, according to the report.
“These 3 complaints accounted for over 79% of all complaints combined,”
Nigerians prepare for a probable increase in electricity prices as 11 DisCos request a review
This was announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, or NERC, in a notice that was referred to as a request for a tariff review.
According to an earlier report from Legit.ng, Discos are meeting with NERC to request clearance for a 40% pricing increase, claiming losses from rising gas prices, shifting exchange rates, and other economic situations.