Band A Tariff Boosts DisCos’ Bills Efficiency To 85.44%

Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in the country are  now seeing an increasing improvement in their billing efficiency, after the removal of subsidy for Band A customers,  thus allowing them to charge cost-reflective tariff

The DisCos generated N150.86 billion in revenue in June 2024, reflecting a collection efficiency of 85.44 per cent, a new report by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has shown.

According to a performance report released by NERC, distribution companies (DisCos) across the country issued bills totalling N176.57 billion to customers during the same period.

Ikeja DisCo led in revenue generation, collecting N30.06 billion, which represents a billing efficiency of 102.44 per cent. Eko DisCo followed with N26.37 billion in revenue and a billing efficiency rate of 97.07 per cent.

While Benin DisCo had the third-highest billing efficiency at 89.49 per cent, Abuja DisCo collected the third-highest revenue, reaching N24.29 billion for the month.

Yola DisCo recorded both the lowest collection efficiency, at 60.81 per cent, and the lowest revenue, at N3.08 billion. Jos and Kaduna DisCos followed, with collection efficiency rates of 62.03 percent and 66.46 per cent, and revenues of N4.96 billion and N5.01 billion, respectively.

In terms of energy distribution, the 11 DisCos received 2,190.12 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity and billed customers for 1,850.73 GWh, resulting in an energy billing efficiency of 85.44 per cent.

Enugu DisCo achieved the highest energy billing efficiency, at 95.63 percent, having billed 153 GWh of the 160 GWh received. Yola and Ibadan DisCos followed, with billing efficiencies of 92 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively.

Kaduna, Jos, and Kano DisCos recorded the lowest energy billing efficiencies at 63.7 per cent, 71.49 per cent, and 79.03 per cent, respectively.

The N150 billion collected by DisCos in June marks a notable increase compared to previous months, following the electricity tariff hike for Band A users.

In April, NERC introduced a significant tariff increase of over 200 percent for Band A consumers, who account for approximately 17 per cent of Nigeria’s electricity users.

According to NERC, only customers receiving a minimum of 20 hours of electricity daily were impacted by the tariff hike.

Back in February, DisCos collected N97.01 billion out of a total N113.05 billion billed. Ikeja DisCo led with a collection efficiency of 114.64 per cent, collecting N19.48 billion from the N17.08 billion billed. Eko and Abuja DisCos followed, achieving collection efficiencies of 99.24 per cent and 87.26 per cent, respectively.

For the first quarter of 2024, DisCos collected N291.62 billion in revenue, a slight decline from the N294.95 billion collected in the final quarter of 2023.