From generation to distribution, Nigeria has
not had it good in terms of sustainable electricity for economic growth in the
last two decades. Despite various reforms since 1999, Nigerians and businesses
are still struggling to power their electrical equipment through the national
grid. Power infrastructure and capital paucity were the two challenges
pinpointed and ensured privatization of the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) after the liberalization policy of the government.
More than 5 years of the privatization, the identified issues
remain unsolved. The public expectation that the estimated billing of the PHCN
will not surface after the privatization seems difficult to disentangle by the
stakeholders. Since January, 2019, media reports have shown that Nigerians in Imo, Enugu, Abia, Edo, Delta, Lagos, Abuja, Anambra,
Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Osun, Rivers, Kwara, Bayelsa, Ondo and Ekiti are not happy
about the outrageous bills being issued by the electricity distribution
companies in their territories. In cities such as Lagos, average estimated bill for residential consumers is N44, 000 monthly
while medium and large companies are paying N1, 250,000.
Across the country, the inability to get the
prepaid meter has been the significant factor contributing to the monthly
estimated bills. Reports indicate that the DISCOs are playing sharp
practices. These practices range from overcharging the consumers to
delay in delivering the meter to the
customers who have paid. A
house or company that possesses a prepaid meter will only pay for energy used. This
is the main benefit to the consumers, which electricity users have seen as the
main threat to the bottom line of the DISCOs and core reason for not making the
meter available to the users. It is like using airtime on a prepaid mobile line.
Electricity users will control what they use.
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| Source: Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2019 |
In November 2013, DISCOs vowed to close the metering gap and
set a target of supplying 4.92 million meters within three years. More than 5
years of making the commitment, only 3,547,129 out of 7,973,867 registered active electricity
customers have been metered. That
is a shortfall of 4,426, 738 meters. As the outcry on the estimated billing
rages on, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has been conducting public consultation in select cities
since 29th May, 2019 with a view of getting public inputs towards capping
estimated billing.
However, capping the estimated billing does not mean that
consumers will not continue paying for what they do not use. The capping regime
will only have minimal impact on the estimated billing not total elimination of
the problem. By capping, consumers without prepaid meters and DISCOs will agree
on the specific amount to be paid every month. Instead of capping regime, the
NERC and DISCOs need to address poor electricity supply, sharp practices of the
DISCOs on the delivery of the electricity meter such as overcharging the
consumers and poor electricity infrastructure in most DISCOs’ coverage
territories. Analysis shows that the poor power supply since January, 2019 connect
with the public interest’s about sustainable electricity generation and
distribution by 54.5%, while the outrageous billing link with the interest
about electricity bill defrayment by 61.4%.
Analysis suggests that electricity users want to know factors preventing
GENCOs and DISCOs from providing electricity and the reasons for paying the
outrageous bills despite the poor power supply.
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| Source: Newspapers' Report, Infoprations Analysis, 2019 |
The
more the emerging issues, the more public interest’s about electricity
diminishes. This is an indication that electricity users do not have faith in
power sector, especially getting power supplies through the national grid. On
the metering, the argument from the 11 licensed electricity distribution
companies that demand is higher than the supplies from the electricity meter
manufacturers seems not to be acceptable to the consumers as analysis shows
that the challenge and others being communicated to the public by DISCOs from
January, 2019 do not dissipate public outcry over the estimated billings across
the country.
Infoprations' Note: This piece was first published on Tekedia as a Guest Article written by Infoprations' Research and Communications Strategist, Mutiu Iyanda
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