Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria made a total of N294.95 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest report on electricity for Q4 2023, released on Monday.
NBS said the revenue generated by the DisCos rose by 26.96 percent compared to the N232.32 billion recorded in Q4 2022.
“Revenue collected by the DISCOs during the period was N294.95 billion from N260.16 billion in Q3 2023,” the bureau said.
“On a year-on-year basis, revenue generated in the reference period rose by 26.96% from N232.32 billion recorded in Q4 2022.
“Electricity supply was 6,432. (Gwh) in Q4 2023 from 5,732 (Gwh) in the previous quarter.
“However, on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply increased by 14.64% compared to 5,611 (Gwh) reported in Q4 2022.”
Meanwhile, the total number of customers in Q4 2023 stood at 12.12 million – up from 11.71 million in Q3 2023.
This represents an increase of 3.46 percent.
“On a year-on-year basis, customer numbers in Q4 2023 rose by 9.59 percent from 11.06 million reported in Q4 2022,” NBS said.
“Similarly, metered customers stood at 5.61 million in Q4 2023, indicating a decrease in the growth rate of 1.32% from 5.68 million recorded in the preceding quarter. On a year-on-year basis, this grew by 9.38% from the figure reported in Q4 2022 which was 5.13 million.”
NBS said estimated customers during the quarter under review were 5.83 million, showing a decrease of 3.34 percent compared to 6.03 million in Q3 2023.
Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, estimated customers also decreased by 1.73 percent in Q4 2023 from 5.93 million in Q4 2022.
Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company had the highest number of estimated bill customers of 1.36 million, followed by Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (709,104), Yola Electricity Distribution Company (688,164), and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (676,324), and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (636,593).
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Ikeja electricity distribution company has the highest revenue of N59.75 million in Q4 2023, despite having the lowest estimated customers of 217,581.
On February 15, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said it is difficult for the federal government to continue to subsidise electricity, saying Nigeria’s debt to generation and gas companies is N3 trillion.
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In Q3 last year, the federal government spent N204.59 billion on electricity subsidy and plans to expend an additional N1.6 trillion in 2024 to enable citizens to access power at a low cost.
The federal government, however, said there are plans underway to pay all gas companies from April.
