Metering Gap Widens Further As Electricity Consumers Increase To 12.12m

The number of electricity consumers rose by 410,000 from 11.71 million in the third quarter of 2023 to 12.12 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated in its Electricity Report for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023 released in Abuja on Monday, that the increase was by 3.46 per cent.

The increase in the number of electricity consumers signifies further widening of the metering gap in the country which has been hovering around 46 per cent despite huge interventions by the federal government to close the metering gap in the country.

The NBS report, which focuses on energy billed, revenue generated, and customers by distribution companies, showed that on a year-on-year basis, the number of electricity customers increased by 9.59 per cent in Q4 2023 from 11.06 million reported in Q4 2022.

It said in Q4 2023, the number of metered customers stood at 5.61 million compared with the 5.68 million recorded in Q3 2023, this indicated a 1.32 per cent decrease.

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“On a year-on-year basis, the figure grew by 9.38 per cent from the 5.13 million reported in Q4 2022,” the NBS stated.

Similarly, estimated electricity customers stood at 5.83 million in Q4 2023, showing a decrease of 3.34 per cent over the 6.03 million recorded in Q3 2023.

“On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers decreased by 1.73 per cent in Q4 2023 from the 5.93 million recorded in Q4 2022. ”

The NBS also said that electricity distribution companies collected N294.95 billion in revenue in Q4 2023 compared with the N260.16 billion they collected in Q3 2023 .

It added that on a year-on-year basis, revenue collected rose by 26.96 per cent over the N232.32 billion collected in the fourth quarter of 2022.

It stated that electricity supply was 6,432 (Gwh) in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 5,732 (Gwh) recorded in the third quarter of the year.

However, the report said on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply increased by 14.64 per cent in Q4 2023 compared with the 5,611 (Gwh) reported in the Q4 2022.