The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed that the Distribution Companies (DisCos) operating in Nigeria collectively remitted a total sum of ₦158.43 billion to the electricity market in the Third Quarter of 2023.
NERC, according to its latest quarterly report published on its website said, in 2023/Q3, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was ₦208.70 billion, consisting of ₦167.40 billion for generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) and ₦41.30 billion for transmission and administrative services by the Market Operator (MO).
It said, “out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of ₦158.43 billion (₦124.53 billion for NBET and ₦33.90 billion for MO) with an outstanding balance of ₦50.27 billion.
“This translates to a remittance performance of 75.91% in 2023/Q3 which is down by 19.30% compared to the 95.21% recorded in 2023/Q2. The disaggregated DisCos remittance performance to the market for 2023/Q3”, it said.
The regulator also revealed that in 2023/Q3, none of the four (4) international customers being supplied by Generation Companies (GenCos) in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) made any payment against the cumulative invoice of $11.16 million issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q3.
Similarly, it said, none of the sixteen (16) bilateral customers operating in the NESI made any payment against the cumulative invoice of ₦2,814.68 million issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q3.
The report said, “the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2023/Q3 was ₦267.61 billion out of ₦349.55 billion billed to customers.
“This translates to a collection efficiency of 76.56% which represents an increase of +1.02pp when compared to 2023/Q2 to customers. (75.54%).
“The increase in collection efficiency can be attributed to the implementation of various collection campaigns for improved remittance by post-paid customers”, it said.
According to the report, Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) Loss in 2023/Q3 was 39.45% comprising – technical and commercial loss (20.91%) and collection loss (23.44%). The ATC&C loss increased by +1.04pp compared to 2023/Q2 (38.41%).
It said, “during the quarter, all the DisCos recorded higher ATC&C losses than what is allowed in their tariff computation i.e. no DisCo achieved its efficient loss targets in 2 23/Q3.
“Consequentially, each DisCo’s revenue collection in 2023/Q3 fell short of what is required to finance sustainable long-term operations while also providing reasonable returns for investors”, the report said.
