Posted by According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, users of electricity paid distribution companies a total of N210.17 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
In its Quarterly Report for the Fourth Quarter of 2021, which was published on Thursday, it made this disclosure and noted that the N210.17 billion represented 9.34% of the total power bill paid by users to electricity distribution firms during the time period.
The regulator reported that the total money collected by all Discos in 2021/Q4 was N210.17 billion out of N303.11 billion billed to customers, which corresponds to a collection efficiency of 69.34 percent (70.89 percent in 2021/Q3).
The statement said, “Compared to 2021/Q3, total billing by Discos increased by N30.12 billion (+11.03%) but revenue collected increased by just N16.64 billion (+8.60%), resulting in a decrease in overall collection efficiency in 2021/Q4.”
Regarding market remittance, NERC reported that the total market remittance order-adjusted invoices from the Nigerian Bulk Trading Company and Market Operator to Discos in 2021/Q4 were N210.72bn for generation costs as well as transmission and administrative services.
The Discos jointly remitted a total of N149.19 billion out of this payment, leaving an unpaid debt of N61.53 billion. This represents a remittance performance for the quarter of 70.80%.
Regarding remittance to NBET, it was reported that just N109.45bn was received during the quarter as opposed to the N160.13bn projected from the agency’s N205.18bn total invoice issued to Discos.
It stated:
“However, only N39.75 billion was received from all the Discos, translating to a 78.59 percent MO remittance performance for the quarter.
This is an improvement of 2.58 percentage points over the 76.01 percent (N41.53 billion remitted against a N54.64 billion invoice) recorded in the third quarter of 2021.
Regarding payments made by special/international customers, the report stated that in 2021/Q4, the NBET and MO sent invoices to Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited for N380.62m and N82.53m, respectively. However, like in the previous quarter, this special client did not make any payments.
According to the regulator, “during the same period, MO submitted an invoice for $13.11 million to bilateral customers (Paras-SBEE, TRANSCORP-SBEE, Mainstream-NIGELEC, and Odukpani-CEET), but no remittance was made (payment of $6.22 million was made in 2021/Q3 against invoice for $11.52 million).