DisCos to halt charging customers for meter replacement

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has taken a firm stance against Distribution Companies (DisCos) that attempt to charge customers for replacing faulty or obsolete meters.  This directive stems from Order No. NERC/246/2021, which outlines the responsibilities of DisCos in maintaining and replacing meters within their network. Under the order, DisCos are required to replace defective meters at no cost to the customer, provided the damage was not caused by the customer.  The commission also prohibited the practice of moving customers with malfunctioning meters to estimated billing, stressing that such actions are not permissible under its regulations. NERC has urged affected customers to report cases where DisCos violate this order. It provided multiple channels, including phone lines and an email address, for lodging complaints.  The commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that DisCos adhere to regulatory standards and warned that any violations would attract penalties. This move is part of NERC’s broader effort to protect consumers and ensure that electricity providers comply with industry regulations. 

DisCos Record 95.21% Market Remittance In Q2 2023 –NERC

DisCos Record 95.21% Market Remittance In Q2 2023 – NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has stated that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) recorded 95.21 percent market remittances in the second quarter of 2023. This represents the highest remittance by the distribution companies so far. The Commission, in its just published ‘Electricity on Demand; report, on Tuesday, indicated that the combined upstream bill that DisCos were expected to pay totaled N194.69 billion, comprising N154.04 billion for generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and N40.65 billion for transmission and administrative services facilitated by the Market Operator (MO). Out of this amount, the DisCos remitted a total of N185.36 billion (N152.48bn for NBET and N32.88bn for the MO), leaving an outstanding balance of N9.32 billion, representing a remittance performance of 95.21 per cent in Q2 2023 compared to the 67.43 per cent recorded in the previous quarter. Industry analysts believe that the improved remittance by the DisCos in the quarter indicates that they did better in fulfilling their financial obligations to NBET and MO, ensuring a higher percentage of payments made in relation to the total amount due. On revenue generation, the report indicated that the DisCos collected a total of N267 billion in revenue in Q2 2023 reflecting a collection efficiency of 75.54 per cent for the quarter out of the total billing value amounting to N354.61 billion. The Commission reported that the improved revenue generation capacity showed an improvement of 6.79 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2023, when the collection efficiency stood at 68.75 per cent. The NERC linked the boost in collection efficiency to two main factors, namely the increased metering of consumers, which ensured a more accurate measurement of electricity consumption, as well as the DisCos’ sundry collection campaigns targeting pre-paid customers, which encouraged timely and complete remittances. The report further said that the ATC&C loss stood at 38.41 per cent and comprised technical and commercial losses of 18.47 per cent and collection losses of 24.46 per cent. Even then the ATC & C loss still reflected an improvement, as it decreased by 7.98 percentage points when compared to the 46.39 per cent loss recorded in Q1 2023.

Complaints over services, metering decline, says NERC

Complaints over services, metering decline, says NERC

In the first quarter of 2023, Nigeria’s eleven power distribution companies (Discos) recorded a total of 249,683 complaints from consumers regarding service interruptions, metering, and billing issues, as revealed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The regulatory body disclosed that the DisCos successfully resolved 229,101 of these complaints, achieving a commendable resolution rate of 91.76%, surpassing the 91.38% rate recorded in the previous quarter of 2022. The cumulative consumer complaints in 2023/Q1 were 4.44% lower than those reported in 2022/Q4, amounting to 11,595 fewer grievances. Among the issues raised, metering, billing, and service interruption constituted the majority, contributing to over 79% of the total complaints for the quarter. During this period, the average available generation capacity reached 4,605.72MW, with an average hourly generation of 4,334.41MWh/h. The quarter’s total generation amounted to 9,350.23GWh from 26 grid-connected generating plants across the nation. Comparing 2023/Q1 to 2022/Q4, the average available generation capacity experienced a growth of 2.27%, rising from 4,503.59MW to 4,605.72MW. The enhancement was driven by improved availability in eleven of the twenty-six grid-connected power plants. Notably, the Egbin plant exhibited substantial progress, with a remarkable 48.48% increase in available capacity, climbing from 476MW to 706MW. However, the remaining 15 plants encountered minor declines in available capacity, with only Delta Gas showing a notable drop exceeding 10%, at -13.51%.