Power distribution companies (Discos) have been accused of defaulting in their remittances to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) and the Market Operator (MO) to the tune of N112 billion in the first quarter of this year.
This fact was contained in the latest Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC’s) ‘First Quarter 2018 Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry Performance’.
The Discos were accused of not remitting N97 billion and N15 billion to the NBET and the MO, respectively, during the quarter in review.
An analysis of the report reflected that out of the N137 billion invoiced amount to the distribution companies by the NBET, they only remitted N40 billion, indicating N97 billion shortfall in the due remittances.
Similarly, the Discos only remitted N11 billion to the Market Operator out of the N26 billion invoiced amount due to the MO. This also showed N15 billion remittance shortfall.
A further analysis of the report showed that the nation’s power grid suffered six total collapses during the period under review compared to just one incident recorded in the preceding quarter while the Discos did not record improvement in meter distributions to electricity consumers too.
The NERC stated further that there had been “market indiscipline and contract ineffectiveness” in the metering process, adding that there is a need for increase in distribution infrastructure and for more injection and distribution capacities.
