Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) billed customers N252.87 billion out of the N328.95 billion worth of electricity supplied to them in May, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Gatekeepers News reports that the figures are contained in the commission’s latest factsheet on the commercial performance of electricity distribution companies for the month.
According to NERC, the gap between the value of electricity received and the amount billed stood at N76.08 billion, representing a billing shortfall of 30.09 percent.
The report showed that the industry’s billing efficiency declined to 76.87 percent in May, down from 83.32 percent recorded in April.
Despite the lower billing efficiency, the 11 electricity distribution companies recorded an improvement in collection efficiency.
NERC said the DisCos generated total revenue of N208.15 billion in May, a sharp decline from the N302.96 billion collected in April.
However, collection efficiency rose to 82.32 percent, an increase of 1.66 percentage points from the 80.66 percent recorded in the previous month.
The commission also reported that the electricity industry posted an overall recovery efficiency of 77.31 percent during the review period, with an average actual collection of N96.16 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared to the approved average tariff of N124.39/kWh.
Among the distribution companies, Ikeja DisCo recorded the highest recovery efficiency at 94.63 percent, followed by Eko DisCo with 91.54 percent and Abuja DisCo with 84.84 percent.
Earlier this week, on August 3, NERC disclosed that electricity distribution companies deployed 227,559 prepaid meters in March and April as part of efforts to improve metering nationwide.
According to the commission, 115,905 customers were metered in March, while an additional 111,654 customers received meters in April.
