NISO Tackles Energy Theft To Guarantee Steady Electricity Supply

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has rolled out new directives targeting Distribution Companies (Discos), Generation Companies (GenCos), Eligible Consumers and Large Customers under the Distribution Companies (DisCos).

The NISO said this initiative comes in response to the ongoing challenges faced by the nation’s power sector, where energy theft has undermined the reliability and efficiency of electricity supply.

Following a crucial meeting held in Lagos with stakeholders from Discos, GenCos, Eligible Customers and Large DisCo Customers on the Ikorodu-Sagamu 132kV DC lines, NISO’s managing director, Abdu Mohammed Bello, emphasised the importance of collective responsibility in addressing the rampant issue of energy theft.

According to him, NISO aims to mitigate financial losses from energy theft, which have historically undermined the power sector’s overall stability.

Bello said the agency had discovered a very high level of Transmission Loss Factor arising from electricity theft along the Ikorodu-Sagamu transmission line corridor, and they have engaged the major stakeholders to address the “very serious issue” and devise sustainable solutions, checks and controls.

According to him, some of the large customers involved in the electricity theft are directly connected to the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company and the Ibadan Distribution Company.

“We discovered that the Ikorodu-Sagamu 132kV double circuit line has a lot of very serious theft issues. The magnitude of the thefts is unimaginable.

The theft along that line is close to 180 megawatts (MW). So, you can imagine losing 180MW, which is almost equivalent to the daily allocation of Jos Electricity Distribution Company.

“So, we decided to carry out investigations and based on our findings, we consulted the regulator of the power sector, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and we made a presentation to them.

They recognised the magnitude of the issue and supported us in taking further steps to address this serious menace within the system.

“So, we have taken the Ikorodu-Sagamu line as a pilot project because it’s not only that corridor that is having that kind of challenge. Other corridors, too, will be dealt with as soon as we are able to deal with this. We have a standard model framework that we’re going to use to address these issues.”

To address these challenges, he said NISO had rolled out directives affecting the GenCos, Discos, and Eligible Customers.